The Results of Going Out Into the Rain Barefoot
by eden54
Summary: Girl falls into Narnia, meets the Pevensies, and is there to witness and perhaps influence the events of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". Written in first-person POV. Better than it sounds and NON-MARY-SUE.
1. The Start of the Beginning

**Hello there everyone! I'm Ed, the authoress of this humble story. ;) I'm just popping in to wish you luck in reading it and give you a BIG thank you for clicking on it in the first place. :D There's some other important information below, if you wish to read. I guess that's it! Have fun! ;)**

**TO ALL FIRST TIME READERS: In my humblest of opinions, I personally think that this story gets better around the eighth or ninth chapters. So if you are put off by the amateur writing of the first several chapters, keep reading and it will get better. ;) **

**ABOUT REVIEWS: Reviews are the highlight of my time here on . Even if all you can say is "Bad" or "Good", please review! I appreciate anything you feel like saying about my story. All I ask is to PLEASE REVIEW! ;)**

**WARNING: Just because I know that some people don't like self-inserts, I am going to warn you: THIS IS A SELF-INSERT! XD**

**DISCLAIMER: Narnia sadly is not mine, **

** And though I'd take it if I could,**

** There would be a hefty fine,**

** That I'd like to avoid, I would.**

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Rain splashed onto the ground, running off the roof and onto the front porch. _Rather unusual weather for Florida_, I thought as I sat on the couch. But then again, how would I know? The weather wasn't exactly one of my hobbies. Thunder sounded again, this time even closer. I loved rainy days. Perfect for reading. I jumped up from my place next to the window and raced upstairs to my bedroom. I quietly opened the door and tip-toed inside; somehow, to me, a rainy day called for silence.

I knelt down next to my bookshelf and looked through the abundance of books. My fingers moved over the titles: _Pride and Prejudice_, _Sense and Sensibility_, _Ishmael, Emma, The Horse and His Boy_...

A sudden crash of thunder surprised me, and I looked up at my bedroom window. The sky was getting darker, and the rain was pouring down even more. I turned back to the bookshelf and grabbed the book I was looking for: _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe._

I stood up and paged through it, when suddenly the power flashed off and, a millisecond later, flashed on again.

I frowned. _We don't usually get storms this bad._

Suddenly, I remembered something and nearly screamed. I had left the chickens outside!

You're probably wondering what in the world I am talking about, so I'll take this small moment to explain.

The chickens I had left outside were, in fact, chickens. There were twelve of them and we kept them in a chicken coop in the woods near the our house. Everyday I would let them out on the front lawn to eat grass (Yes, chickens eat grass too), and everyday at 5:00 P.M. I would round them up and let them back into their coop.

Except for today. It was already 5:56 P.M. and I had completely forgotten!

I ran downstairs, still holding _LWW_ under my arm, threw open the door, and ran outside barefoot.

As you can see, my mind wasn't exactly working very well that day.

I sloshed through the water-logged lawn, rain pelting me and soaking me to the skin. I looked around, and spotting a group of very wet chickens standing under a tree, I ran towards them.

Which obviously isn't a good idea when you are barefoot in the middle of the woods.

But as I said before, I wasn't thinking that day.

Which is probably why I did it.

Which is probably why I stepped right onto a very sharp stick.

A _very_ sharp stick.

I shrieked, grabbing onto my bleeding foot and hopping on the other.

I hopped around for a moment, trying unsuccessfully to get a good look at my injury, when I hopped right into a very wet patch of grass.

Scratch that. _Everything_ was very wet. That was just one insanely slippery patch of grass.

I fell to the ground, and my swimming pool of a lawn soaked me. I looked up at the sky, rain nearly blinding me. Suddenly, something hit me right in the eye. And then in the nose. And then in the cheek.

I looked down shielding my face with both hands and saw ice the size of marbles falling from the sky! More hail started raining down as I pushed myself into a sitting position and tried to get to my feet. I almost got up when I slipped again, this time on my book. I stood again, carefully but quickly, and bent down to pick up _LWW_.

I nearly cried when I saw the shape it was in.

Mud coated the cover and at least half of the inside, and the pages were sopping wet and ripped from my foot stepping on them.

_Wonderful_, I thought, frowning darkly. _N__ow it's ruined. I'll have to buy another copy – which happens to be impossible since I'm broke!_

Suddenly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and a split-second later lighting jumped out of the sky and scorched a tree far to close to me!

I screamed bloody murder, and even though it might be impossible to imagine, I screamed even louder as I felt the ground give out beneath me.

I tumbled through the air, the blackening sky becoming a tiny speck as I got farther and farther away from it. Soon it disappeared completely.

I rolled over in mid-air and looked towards where the ground was supposed to be.

A little bit of light was getting nearer and nearer to me.

To near for my taste.

My eyes grew wide as I saw the pure white ground come rapidly closer.

"No! No! NOOOOO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

I squeezed my eyes shut and the last thought that flew through my head before I hit was:

_This is _very _odd weather for Florida._

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**I know this story is a little crazy, but if you liked it or if you have any suggestions, then please review and tell me!**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	2. Waking Up In Narnia

**A/N: I just wanted to say that I will not always update this quickly, so to anyone (Anyone? :D) who is actually reading this: Don't think I am giving up on the story just because I don't update for a week or more. That just means I am working hard on it!**

**Queen Su: Thank so much for the review! I am glad you found my little story amusing, I was hoping someone would like it. :) And don't worry, I don't plan on matching myself up with anybody in this story. ;)**

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I cautiously opened my eyes. Everything was white.

I blinked. _Is this heaven? Where's all the angels? For that matter, where's God?_ I blinked again – still nothing, and my body was oddly numb.

_Numb? Bodies are NOT supposed to be numb! _

I pushed myself up. I was in the middle of a forest, and it was apparently winter as the ground was covered in snow.

Except for the spot I had been laying in, where there was a me-shaped patch of mud.

_Well, I guess that explains why I can't feel my nose._ I shivered. As everyone well knows, dropping from the sky into a pile of snow while you are soaking wet is not the most pleasant experience.

I gingerly got to my feet, remembering my recent mishaps with a cringe.

_Where on earth am I?_, I thought, looking around.

The forest I stood in was beautiful, yet completely silent. (Unless, of course, you are one of those people who have super-hearing and can hear snowflakes hitting the ground). It was seemingly devoid of all life except for the trees and bushes.

I sighed and rubbed my hands together, trying to force some warmth back into them.  
It was then that I noticed my book, _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_, was still clutched tightly in my mostly numb hands.

I examined it closely, and was shocked to see that all the mud had somehow disappeared, and that the rips had mysteriously repaired themselves.

I sat down on the ground behind (Or in front of – it depends on your point of view) a large pine tree and pulled my knees up to my chest. I studied the front and back cover of the book, trying to determine if it was really the same one that I took outside with me. The back was the same, down to my pen-written signature that I had inscribed there a few years ago. Flipping it over, I examined the front.

_Yep, same taped-up rip down the middle. I really do wish that hadn't happened, it totally obscures the lamppost. The lamppost is meant to be the center of attention, something that should not and cannot be missed-_

I froze and glanced up. A certain tall, metal object stood a few measly feet away, glowing like New York City at midnight. _What. What? WHAT?_

My eyes widened so much that I was almost afraid that my eyeballs would fall out.

"OH MY GOSH!" I screamed. "I'M IN NARNIA!"

I started hyperventilating.

_This cannot be real! _I stared down at my book to compare the picture on it to lamppost before me.

It was identical! Completely and utterly identical!

There it was, right in front of me the entire time: the legendary lamppost of Narnia! _How on earth could I have missed it before?_ I jumped up, ignoring the pain of my nearly frost bitten feet.

I hobbled over to it, still in shock, and shakily extended a finger to touch it reverently.

"I can't believe it." I whispered in awe. "How in the world...?"

I glanced down at my copy of _LWW _and suddenly realized that I couldn't remember half of the plot. I hadn't read it in years, so I had an excuse, but I still felt rather dumb for not reading it earlier in the day. All I remembered was most of the story up until after the Pevensies stepped into the wardrobe together for the first time, but even that was pretty fuzzy.

I eagerly tried to open the book, to scan the chapters and get a refresher on the plot, but the pages were stuck together. It was a strange kind of stick too, not like glue or mud ( As I had first thought that some leftover mud from earlier might have caused it), but like the entire book was made of stone and wasn't ever meant to be opened. I pried at it and pulled as hard as I could, but not a single page would budge.

_Drat_, I thought, _The first time I get into Narnia and my copy of _LWW _has decided I'm not respectable enough to get a glance at its pages, even though I am in dire need of remembering the plot!_

"Hello?"

An oddly familiar voice highlighted by a British accent broke into my thoughts.

I whirled around, and nearly choked.

It was the Pevensies.

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**Another insane chapter, but did you expect anything less? XD**

**If you liked it or if you have suggestions, then please review and tell me your thoughts!**


	3. Meeting the Pevensies

**A/N: In case you haven't noticed, or got confused (or whatever) italics (Like _this_) are almost always my thoughts. The only exceptions are if I use it to distinguish the title of a book or movie, or if I am trying to emphasis a word. Thanks!**

**Queen Su: Thanks again for your review! Yeah, I know the last chapter was way too short, but hopefully this chapter will make up for it a little bit! **

**Princess Lucy: Thank you so much for your review! I have no intention of turning her into a Mary-Sue *shudders at the thought* (Since she is suppose to be me anyway, and I definitely don't consider myself a 'Sue), so please tell me if it seems like she is leaning towards the 'Sue side.**

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I stared for the longest time, my eyes bulging out of their sockets.

They were all here, and this had to prove that I was really in Narnia!

All four stood not eight feet away, sharing confused glances and looking at me strangely. The younger girl (who I knew must have been Lucy) looked curious though confused, the younger boy (Edmund, I assumed) was looking at me like I was from an alien planet, the older girl (who I guessed was Susan) was looking wide-eyed and pale, and the older boy (I was sure he was Peter) was looking suspicious.

_But how? It was all just a story, fiction! Invented by C.S. Lewis, a product of his superior imagination, nothing more than a fairytale..._

It was the Peter who broke the silence.

"Who are you?"

I snapped back into reality. Whether I believed it or not, I was going to have to face the fact that I was truly in Narnia and, at the moment, couldn't get back home. I would have to go along with the Pevensies.

_Not like that's anything to complain about!_ I thought, suddenly feeling quite happy.

But there was no way I could tell them my real name. _It would contaminate the timeline! _I thought, briefly thinking of one of my favorite TV shows. I bit my lip, thinking quickly.

"Are you alright?" It was Lucy who spoke now, and I realized that I hadn't answered Peter's question.

I quickly nodded, though in truth my toes were numb and my clothes had _at least_ one layer of ice on them. "It's r-really cold!" I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself, trying to buy some time while I thought of a fake name.

Peter had already quickly disappeared back into a thick clump of trees a few feet away from the lamppost. He emerged with fuzzy looking winter coat and a pair of matching boots which he promptly stuffed into my arms.

I grinned, and quickly donned the coat and the boots. Warmth slowly crept back into my toes, and I breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Thank you _very _much!" I said, rubbing my arms to get some feeling back into them.

Peter nodded in response, asking "How did you get here? Did you come through the wardrobe too?"

I shook my head. "Nooo... In fact, I'm not really sure how I got here. It just kind of... happened."

"You're American?" Susan asked slowly, obviously having noticed my accent.

"Yes, and I'm Floridian!" I exclaimed brightly. "And you guys are British?" I rolled my eyes at my small mistake, "I mean, English?"

Susan nodded, looking a little confused, and Peter stepped forward, taking on a diplomatic expression.

"Well, anyway, my name is Peter Pevensie, and these are my siblings: Susan, Lucy, and Edmund." He said, gesturing to them as he said their names.

"It's awesome to meet you all!" I said, and suddenly thought of my best friend back home – what she wouldn't give to be here right now! I sighed, almost feeling bad that I got here and she didn't, but I was too excited to be upset. I would just have to tell her about it when I got back.

Thinking about her also reminded me of a decent fake name that I could use. _This is going to get interesting._

"My name is Eden Phillips, but you can..." I stopped myself, rethinking my idea for a moment. I was about to say "you can call me Ed" because that's what my best friend called me, but that would've been a little strange because I would have shared that nickname with Edmund Pevensie!

"You can call me Eden." I amended, deciding to leave off the nickname – for now anyways.

Lucy smiled and looked up at me. "We were about to go and visit my friend Mr. Tumnus. Would you like to come with us?"

I smiled back, getting more excited by the minute. "I would love to!" _After all,_ I thought to myself_, I don't exactly know how to get back home from here._

Peter glanced at Lucy. "Wait a moment, Lu, we don't even know her." He frowned at me, exclaiming. "For all we know, she could be a thief or a murderer!"

Susan rolled her eyes. "Come on, Peter, she looks my age. Do you really think she's going to try and kill us?"

Peter shrugged "How should I know? It's not as if any of this is normal!"

Susan sighed; she couldn't argue with that.

"Look," I started, holding my hands up in surrender, "I'm in the same boat as you are. Well, maybe not the _exact_ same boat, but I don't know that much more about this place than you do. And I'm certainly not a killer – look at me!" I laughed, trying to imagine myself as an evil villain and failing magnificently. "Do I look like I possess the muscles or brain power to actually kill someone and get away with it?"

_Well, maybe the brain power, _I allowed myself.

Peter still didn't look quite convinced, but I could see that he was considering my argument.

He sighed. "I suppose you're right. And either way, it would be safer to keep you in our sights if you _are_ dangerous."

Susan nodded her agreement and I glanced at Lucy and Edmund. Lucy had been watching the whole argument with wide eyes, looking like she wasn't quite sure what to think. But Edmund's furrowed eyebrows and dark glare plainly gave away what he thought – he would rather be shoved into a snow drift than have me come along.

"Well then, Lucy, I suppose we are_ all_ going to Mr. Tumnus's house." Peter exclaimed, "Lead the way!"

Lucy's face brightened immediately and she hiked off into the woods motioning for us to follow her, and calling back cheerfully "Come on, it's this way!"

We all followed closely behind and I fell into step beside Susan. _Things aren't starting off exactly as I had hoped, _I thought frowning, _But I shouldn't let that get me down. I'm in Narnia, for goodness sake! This is my dream! Think of everyone I can tell when I get home, not that they'll believe me, but..._

Then it finally hit me and I froze in my steps:

I _couldn't_ get back home.

I had no idea how I got into Narnia, much less how to get back! It's not like I could just jump up into the sky and expect to arrive back on my front lawn, safe and sound!

I plopped down into the snow, shell-shocked for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Eden?"

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy had all stopped, the latter one and former two looking at me oddly. Edmund only glared at the ground, as if he was trying to melt a hole through the ice.

I hardly noticed though, as the tight feeling of panic started rising in my stomach.

Lucy knelt down next to me. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I immediately shook my head 'no', and then nodded 'yes', confusing myself and the Pevensies both at once.

"It's just that... I just realized that I have no clue how to get back home." I said, sympathizing with Dorothy from the _Wizard of Oz, _something I'd never thought I would do.

Lucy glanced up at her eldest siblings who were looking mostly puzzled and slightly concerned.

"You don't know how to get home?" Peter asked slowly. I heaved a sigh.

"No." I said in a very small voice. All of the excitement I had felt had been replaced with anxiety.

"I don't suppose you can get back to America through the wardrobe?" Peter asked doubtfully.

I shook my head again, knowing that it would only lead back to the Professor's house.

Susan answered, saying what I was thinking. "Well, logically, it would only lead back to the Professor's house, and the Professor's house is in England, not America."

I decided to not even mention the whole "in a different time" thing.

"Well, maybe Mr. Tumnus or someone he knows will be able to help you." Lucy offered, ever hopeful.

I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would have to go on with them through the whole adventure and find help somewhere in Narnia, so I instantly accepted Lucy's offer.

"Okay. I guess that's the only option I have right now, anyway." I agreed.

Edmund scowled at me as Lucy and I got up. "Finally! I thought you were just going to sit there forever! You might as well have, that would have been better than coming with us-"

"Edmund!" Peter reprimanded him, sending him a hard glare. I had a feeling that if I weren't there, he would have said a lot more. Edmund seemed moody from the moment I first saw him, and I wondered what his problem was. I thought I remembered something from the book about a lady who gave him candy and invited him to her house... _But, that doesn't make sense._

Peter looked at me apologetically as we resumed walking. Lucy started telling us all about Mr. Tumnus and his house and what kinds of things he had there and what fun we would have once we got there. For some reason, it cheered me immensely and I completely forgot the little panic attack I had earlier.

"... and there will be lots and lots of lovely food, and we'll have lots and lots of..." Lucy trailed off as Mr. Tumnus's house came into view.

The door was broken off the hinges, and even from where I stood I could see enough to know that someone had demolished the inside.

_Mr. Tumnus either had a really crazy party last night, or something large with teeth and claws ripped apart his house._

I have to tell you, I really wanted to believe the former.

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**Ahh! Nothing is more refreshing than writing. This chapter wasn't very funny though, sorry! Although, I was thinking this story would probably get more serious, because it's kinda hard for it not to 'cause of everything that happens with the White Witch and Edmund and Aslan. I mean I don't think I would be laughing if I was really there in Narnia witnessing them fighting, and seeing Aslan getting killed. I do want to keep this semi-realistic. I suppose I'm not doing the best job of it so far though... *looks sheepish***

**Anyway, I would of had this chapter up an hour or two sooner (A few hours doesn't make a whole lot of difference I suppose), but my computer messed up and I had to rewrite the last half. *frowns at the comp* "No, I haven't forgiven you yet, so don't bother asking."**

**Well, pretty please review and you will be awarded... Another chapter! ;D**


	4. Mr Tumnus's House

**A/N: See? I told you that reviews would get you another chapter! ;D Enjoy!**

**Queen Su: Whoops! Yeah, I am not the best with grammar and stuff. If I make any mistakes in this chapter let me know! And as always, thanks for the review!**

**Trichwin: Thank you sooo much for reviewing my story! I'm glad you liked it, and I hope I will not disappoint you with this next chapter!**

**justplaincrazy8: Thanks for the review! I like self-inserts too... I guess that's obvious though; If I didn't like them I wouldn't write them! :D**

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Lucy gasped and her eyes widened with growing horror. She quickly snapped out of her shock and raced towards Mr. Tumnus's house.

"Lucy, no!" I yelled, the images of sharp teeth and claws still fresh in my mind. I ran after her and Peter, Susan, and Edmund followed right behind me.

I stopped at the door and hesitantly stepped through. Lucy was standing in the middle of the small room and quietly taking in the horrible mess that had once been her good friend's home.

I came over and stood beside her.

"Who would do something like this?" She asked me, her voice trembling.

I looked around for any sort of clue that might answer her question. A table that was flipped on its side, broken cups and plates, chairs ripped to shreds, books clawed to pieces, a paper nailed to the wall...

I walked over to the paper, curious as to who put it there. I pulled it off the nail that kept it in place and held it up to read.

Except that the handwriting was particularly hard to decipher. _Hmm... _

Peter and Susan walked over as I tried unsuccessfully to read it. "The Fraud... Tombnis... his hair be charged with... dye treason... Umm... a gain her Imperical Madge is tea...Jade is... keen... on Narnia..."

"Oh, give it here." Peter demanded, running short on patience. I reluctantly handed it over to him, tempted to cross my arms and pout, but I figured that it wouldn't do much good. _Other than making myself feel better that is._

He started reading. "The Faun Tumnus is hereby charged with High Treason against Her Imperial Majesty, Jadis, Queen of Narnia, for comforting her enemies and fraternizing with humans. Signed Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police. Long Live the Queen."

I stood there not quite sure what to make of it. We were in a country where the inhabitants weren't even allowed to talk with humans, and if they did they would be charged with High Treason?

This was not good. Susan must have been thinking the same thing because the next moment she said:

"All right, now we _really_ need to go back!" She looked urgent and almost a little bit scared.

"But what about me?" "But what about Mr. Tumnus?" Me and Lucy asked at the same time. Everyone looked towards us.

I spoke up, "I can't just march through the wardrobe like you four can! I HAVE to find Mr. Tumnus, or someone to show me how to get home! And I thought you were going to help me?" I almost felt bad about demanding their help when I hardly knew them, but at the same time, I already _did _feel like I knew them.

Peter and Susan shared a glance. "If he was arrested just for being with a human, I don't think there's much we can do." Susan said, but for some reason she sounded unsure.

Lucy's eyes filled with tears, "You don't understand, do you? _I'm _the human! She must have found out he helped me."

Understanding dawned on me. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something moving. Alarmed, I turned to look and was very relieved to see that it was only Edmund.

But he was very pale and looked like he was going to be sick. I raised an eyebrow. _What's his problem? It's not so strange to think that Tumnus was taken because of Lucy, and either way, I think I could believe anything after everything else that has happened today. _

Peter interrupted my thoughts. "Maybe we could call the police." He suggested. My eyebrows skyrocketed.

"Call the police? You mean the police who destroyed this house and kidnapped Mr. Tumnus?" I asked, trying to show him how ridiculous the idea was.

He sighed and looked down at Lucy, then at me. "Don't worry. We'll think of something." he said to us both, trying to sound comforting.

"Why?"

Everyone turned to look at Edmund. My eyes widened in disbelief. _What do you mean 'why'? I need to talk to him to see if he can help me get home, not to mention the fact that he's Lucy's friend and probably a decent faun!_

Edmund noticed the glares pointed at him and quickly added, "I mean, he's a criminal!"

"What are you talking about? You do understand that he was only arrested because he was your sister's friend, right?" I gaped at him, raising one eyebrow, "Who's side are you-"

"Pssst!"

I whipped around. "Who said that?" I asked. Susan slowly pointed at something outside. I followed her finger, looking out the door, and saw a small robin perching on a snow covered branch.

"D-did that bird just...?" She asked incredulously, not finishing her question.

"What? Did it just what? WHAT?" I asked, incredibly curious. But Susan just walked out the door, motioning for us to follow her (which we did wholeheartedly). _What in the world did it do? Did it scream and throw itself on the ground? Did it dance the hokey pokey? Did it cackle and grin evilly whilst having a unnatural gleam in its eyes? _

I ran out the door, following the others, and was about to walk toward where the robin was, only to discover that it was gone.

"Where'd the bird go?" I asked in confusion, surveying the surrounding forest.

Suddenly, I noticed something rustling the bushes a few feet away. I saw them move slightly and heard the soft crunch of feet stepping on the snow-packed ground.

I backed up until I bumped into Peter, who was standing protectively in front of his siblings. I was tempted to hide behind him like the rest of them, but I realized that if it was something really big (like lions, or tigers, or bears! Oh my!), then it wouldn't really matter anyway.

The rustling grew closer and closer until...

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**Hmm... This chapter could stand some improvement (Well, let's face it: they all could!), but it was a lot of fun to write! Hope you'll excuse the Wizard of Oz reference... I actually don't really like that movie, but the quote just popped into my head when I was writing it. **

**Hope you enjoyed it! And remember: If you review I will reward you with another chapter! :D And maybe a chocolate bunny if your review is especially long! **

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^ Not mine XD


	5. At the Beaver's Lodge

**A/N: Everyone is rewarded chocolate bunnies for their wonderful reviews! XD *crosses fingers*Hope you like the chapter!**

**King of Kings' Daughter: I'm happy to hear you're liking it! I think, if you really want to, you should definitely write your own POV to LWW. It's a lot easier (at least, I find it easier) than writing normal fanfic, because you are basically just writing yourself into the story. And, yeah, Eden does overreact a bit... *giggles* I just can't imagine 'me' NOT overreacting if that really happened!**

**amber'eyed'countess: I'm really glad you enjoyed my story!**

**Queen Su: Wow! It sure is nice to have a faithful reviewer... Thanks! And I'm sorry my chapters have been so short, this one is a little longer than usual. :)**

**justplaincrazy8: Yeah, I would be a little worried too if I saw that. XD I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one!**

**trichwin: Hi again! I'm glad to hear that I'm making someone laugh with my story!**

**moongazer5: I'm glad you like Eden, I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**REDROBINS007: I liked that part too, it was fun to write! :D**

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A huge squirrel popped out of the bushes! I breathed a long sigh of relief.

_But wait... Squirrels don't have long, flat tails, do they? It must be a species native to Narnia... HEY! I can name it! Let's see, maybe..._

"It's a beaver!" Lucy declared, and my mental smile turned into frown. I felt rather stupid for not knowing it was a beaver. _I'm sure it was only because I was expecting something different. Larger..._

Peter bent down and held out his hand to the beaver. "Here, boy." The beaver just sat there looking at Peter's hand.

I raised my eyebrows, amused. "I don't think it's going to listen to you. And if I were you, I wouldn't stick my hand out there like that. Wild animals have a tendency to bite."

The beaver stood upright. "Who are you callin' a wild animal?"

I screamed (actually it was more of a squeak), and a few seconds later (after calming down), turned pink for insulting the poor beaver. _Who, by the way, has a very nice accent._

"Sorry!" I managed to get out. "I..." The beaver glanced at me, narrowing his eyes like he wasn't sure what to make of me, and then turned to Lucy.

"Lucy Pevensie?" He questioned. She nodded. He held out something in his furry little paw. It was a handkerchief!

Lucy took it and exclaimed, "That's the hankie I gave to Mr. Tumnus!"

"Tumnus, yes. He got it to me just before they took him." The beaver told us.

So Tumnus really did get taken? Oh, great.

"Is he all right?" Lucy asked worriedly. The beaver looked around before gesturing for us to go deeper into the forest.

"Further in!" He whispered, moving ahead. I started to follow him.

"What are you doing?" I heard someone whisper. I turned around and saw that the Pevensies hadn't moved an inch and Susan was looking at Peter as if he was crazy.

"She's right!", Edmund put in, "How do we know if we can trust him?" Peter shrugged.

"He said he knows the faun." He replied, as if that answered everything. Susan rolled her eyes.

"He's a _beaver_. He shouldn't be saying anything!" she said. I wasn't sure whose side I should take. I didn't think the beaver was going to hurt us, but at the same time, how did we really know that for certain?

Suddenly, Beaver (As I creatively decided to call him) popped up right beside me and I nearly screamed again. "Agh!" I exclaimed, "Why must you do that?"

Beaver sighed impatiently, "I wouldn't 'ave if you all did more followin' and less standin' 'round!"

"Sorry. We were just talking." Peter said.

"That's better left for safer quarters." Beaver stated quietly, walking off in the direction he had before.

Lucy glanced up at the snowy branches above. "He means the trees." She whispered. Edmund and Susan shared a skeptical look behind Lucy's back.

Alarmed, I looked around, wondering what was so bad about the trees here. _It's not as if they can hear us talking... At least, I _hope _they can't._

We started walking off into the thick of the forest, Peter and Lucy in front with the beaver, me and Susan in the middle, and Edmund in the back. As we got farther away from Mr. Tumnus's house, Beaver started to talk.

He told us that his name was Mr. Beaver (Original, huh? Though I suppose it's better than just 'Beaver'), and that the land of Narnia was in the middle of Winter. But not just any old winter. A Winter that had lasted for _one-hundred _years, and was more than likely never to end. Worse than that, it was a Winter with no Christmas! _Think of that... No Christmas... It's almost impossible to believe._

About 35 minutes and 16 seconds after we had left Mr. Tumnus's house, I began to get uncomfortably cold. _Even fluffy winter coats have their limit._

"When are we gonna get there? It's really cold!" I said, walking a fine line between sounding like I had a concrete reason to complain or just sounding plain whiny. Unfortunately, I sounded mostly whiny.

"We're almost there, don't you worry." Mr. Beaver said, speaking to all of us. "In fact, there it is now!"

I looked down at where he was pointing and saw a small beaver dam in the middle of a frozen pond. Smoke was coming out of the chimney and it made me warm and cozy just seeing it.

"Ah, blimey! Looks like the old girl 'as got the kettle on. Nice cup o' Rosy Lee." Mr. Beaver exclaimed in a cheery tone, blowing on his paws to warm them.

"It's lovely!" Lucy said. _Not quite how I would describe it, but still fitting none the less._

Mr. Beaver smiled. "It's merely a trifle, still plenty to do. Ain't quite finished yet. It'll look the business when it is, though!" He said proudly.

We followed Mr. Beaver down the slope to the beaver lodge. I hesitantly stepped onto the ice, almost expecting it to crack.

_If this ice cracks, I will scream bloody murder and sue C.S Lewis for making Narnia always Winter! _

I stepped onto it the rest of the way and half-ran to catch up with the others. Then a thought hit me.

_But Narnia is real! So that means that... C.S Lewis DIDN'T MAKE IT UP? Then he must have heard it from someone... Maybe the kids themselves! When they were older... That is _so_ weird, but cool too. _

Then another thought hit me.

_Does that mean me being here will change the future? Will C.S Lewis include _me_ in his books? That would be totally awesome!_

Suddenly a voice called out to us, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Beaver, is that you?" Another beaver (this one was a bit smaller) stepped out of Mr. Beaver's lodge and quickly walked towards us. "I've been worried sick! If I find you've been out with Badger again I..."

She stopped when she caught sight of us, looking up at us with awe. "Oh! Those aren't badgers..."

"No, we aren't! Actually we're humans." I said semi-sarcastically. Peter frowned at me and I realized that I had said something I shouldn't have. _Whoops... _I mentally kicked myself for being so rude, but I was tired and hungry... And this had been the weirdest day of my life!

Mrs. Beaver just smiled though, and I was very glad to know I hadn't upset her. "I never thought I'd live to see the day!" She exclaimed, clasping her paws together excitedly. She then turned to Mr. Beaver.

"Look at my fur. You couldn't give me ten minutes warning?" She asked. I smiled. _She's just like Mom._

Mr. Beaver chuckled, "I would've given you a week if I thought it'd help!" Mrs. Beaver smiled and shook her head, then gazed up, looking us over in wonder. But then her smile faded and was replaced by a confused frown.

She glanced at Mr. Beaver, gesturing towards us, a puzzled expression on her face. "Beaver, why is there..."

Mr. Beaver stopped her before she could finish and nodded, mouthing the words 'I know'.

"Oh, well, come on in now, and let's see if we can't get you some food and drink to warm you up." She said, regaining her merry tone, but still looking at us oddly.

Peter, Susan, and Lucy stepped through the small doorway first, Mr. Beaver right after. I waited for Edmund to follow them, but when he didn't, I turned to see what was keeping him.

He was staring at something far in the distance, looking totally zoned out. I peered towards where he was staring, but couldn't really see anything except for two large mountains and a whole lot of snow.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Ed? What are you looking at?"

He turned to glare at me. "What's it to you?" He snapped, and I took a small step back.

I was startled and a bit freaked out by his nasty reaction, but tried not to show it. _What in the world is his problem? He looks positively menacing... and why is he so sickly pale? Kid needs to get out in the sun more._

He walked towards the door. " And just for your information, don't _ever_ call me 'Ed' again." He looked at me darkly, then stepped through the entrance.

Chills went up my spine, and they were not at all to do with the cold. _There is something majorly wrong with that kid. _I shook myself to get rid of the chills, then bent down and walked into the beavers' lodge.

I stepped down the stairs, passing Edmund who was sitting on them. Mrs. Beaver was putting a pan on the small stove, and Mr. Beaver, Peter, Susan, and Lucy were sitting at the table. I took off my coat. "It's a lot warmer in here!" I sighed, sitting down next to Lucy (who agreed) and handing my coat over to Mrs. Beaver. Susan took off her coat too, and then Lucy, Peter, and Edmund followed suit. Mrs. Beaver hung them up by the fire to get nice and toasty warm. _I just hope they don't burst into flames._

"Isn't there anything we can do to help Tumnus?" Peter asked, sounding desperate.

Mr. Beaver shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not. They'll have him taken to the Witch's. And you know what they say about that place."

_WITCH? No, no, no, and NO! I didn't sign up for this!_

"What do they say?" Susan asked in alarm, looking as if she wasn't sure she really wanted to know.

"That there's few that go through them gates that ever come out again." Mr. Beaver replied grimly.

Mrs. Beaver, seeing that Lucy was getting more discouraged by the second, raced over with a plate of fried fish and potatoes.

"Fish n' chips!" She announced, setting the dish onto the table with a resounding clunk. She put her paw on Lucy's shoulder. "But there is hope, dear; lots of hope." Mrs. Beaver said, trying to comfort the girl.

"Oh, yeah, there's a right bit more than 'ope!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed, leaning towards us. "_Aslan _is on the move!"

In that instant, I felt as if all the cares in the world had been lifted off me, and something infinitely beautiful had just been revealed. Something majestic and amazing; thrilling and exciting; untame and powerful.

I had to know who this Aslan was.

"Who is Aslan?" I whispered, still in awe at the strong emotions I felt. I saw Edmund inch closer to the table.

"Yeah, who _is_ Aslan?" He asked, sounding slightly uneasy. Mr. Beaver just laughed. "Who's Aslan? Why you cheeky little blighter!"

I immediately took offense to this, but didn't get the chance to say so because a few seconds later Mrs. Beaver (who was then sitting beside her husband) elbowed Mr. Beaver and he noticed that we really didn't have a clue about who Aslan was.

"You really don't know, do you?" He stated more than asked, looking incredulous.

"Well, we haven't exactly been here very long." Peter said, smiling a bit uncertainly.

"Well, he's only the king o' the whole wood! The top geezer! The real King of Narnia!" Mr. Beaver said loudly.

"He's been away for a long while." Mrs. Beaver put in.

"But he's just got back!" Mr. Beaver continued, "And he's waiting for you at the Stone Table!"

I raised my eyebrows. Aslan, King of Narnia, was waiting for _us_ at the Stone Table? I knew there had to be a mistake.

"He's waiting for us?" Lucy questioned, obviously as puzzled as I was.

"You're blooming jokin'!" Mr. Beaver exploded, turning towards his wife and gesturing his hands towards us in disbelief, "They don't even know about the prophecy!"

"Well, then..." Mrs. Beaver prodded him. Mr. Beaver calmed down and got serious.

"Look." He said, "Aslan's return, Tumnus' arrest, the secret police; It's all happenin' because of you!"

Susan eyes grew wide with understanding, "You're blaming us?" She asked in surprise, a bit of anger creeping into her voice.

"No! Not blaming. Thanking you!" Mrs. Beaver smiled at us happily.

"You see, there's a prophecy:

When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone,

Sit at Cair Paravel in throne,

The evil time will be over and done." Mr. Beaver recited, saying it so perfectly that I figured he must have recited it a hundred times.

But Susan had a doubting look in her eyes. "You know, that doesn't really rhyme."

Mr. Beaver shook his head. "Yeah, I know it don't, but you're kinda missin' the point!" He said impatiently.

Mrs. Beaver took over, seeing as Mr. Beaver was losing patience. "It has long been for told, that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch, and restore peace to Narnia!"

I didn't quite know what to make of this.

"And you think _we're _the ones?" Peter said, finally understanding, but not looking especially happy about it.

"Well, you better be, 'cause Aslan has already fitted out your army!" Mr. Beaver looked at us, almost as if willing us to believe.

"Our army?" Lucy asked, amazement written across her face.

This didn't make sense! I had to find out something.

"Wait, wait, wait! Wait just a minute there." I interjected, getting the attention of everybody in the room. "Something is really confusing me."

Mr. Beaver nodded, waiting for me to go ahead.

"This doesn't make sense. You said that the prophecy foretells that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve come to defeat the White Witch. But there are five of us here... I know that these four," I gestured at Pevensies, "are siblings, so it would make complete sense that they're the ones from the prophecy. But then where do I fit in? " I said, trying to sort it out in my mind.

Mr. Beaver glanced at Mrs. Beaver and then replied. "Well, I'm not really sure..."

"You mean you don't even have a remote idea why I was brought here?" I asked. My hope that I would find some answers was rapidly starting to fade.

Mr. Beaver shook his head. "I don't know. But I do know that Aslan doesn't make mistakes. He wouldn'a brought you here if He didn't 'ave a good reason behind it."

I nodded, a bit reassured, but still desperately longing for home.

"But we aren't here to fight in a war!" Susan stated strongly, looking to Peter for backup.

"She's right, I think you've made a mistake! We're _not_ heroes." Peter cried, trying his best to convince them.

Mr. Beaver was on the verge of yelling. "Didn't I just finish tellin' ya? Aslan don't make no mistakes. You're the ones in the prophecy, you're the ones who'er gonna defeat the White Witch!"

Susan got up from her chair, her face cold as stone. "No. We aren't." She turned to Peter, her voice betraying her fear, "We really should go."

He nodded, "Yes, we should." He looked down at the beavers almost apologetically, "Thank you for your hospitality, but it's high time we left." _This can't be happening! They can't leave me like this!_

"You can't just leave!" Mr. Beaver said, in a shocked voice.

"He's right! We have to help Mr. Tumnus! And what about Eden?" Lucy piped up, and I was touched_. At least someone remembered me._

Peter got up and stood beside Susan. "It's out of our hands. I'm sorry, but we need to get home." He turned to me, "Eden, you can come with us, I'm sure we can find a way to get you back to the U.S., we'll just have to ask the Professor..."

"No!" I shouted. He just didn't get it! I came from a totally different time than them, and that wasn't something I could easily explain.

I looked around, trying to think of something to help me win this battle of words. My eyes passed over the stairs and I noticed something: Edmund was gone. _What the... _I quickly glanced around the rest of the room, but didn't see any sign of him. _He must have run off while we were talking! _

"Eden, please!" "Peter, we have to help!" "You have to stay!" "We're lost without ya'!" "We need to go!"

The racket was so loud, that at first nobody noticed when I yelled: "EDMUND'S MISSING!"

All at once, everything quieted down. Astonished, Peter looked around the room. When he didn't find his brother, he turned to Susan.

"I'm gonna kill him." He declared angrily. Mr. Beaver looked up at Peter somberly.

"You may not have to."

He stared him straight in the eye. "Has Edmund ever been to Narnia before?"

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**Phew! That took a long time to write! But it was definitely worth it. This story has been a lot of fun to write so far, and I am sure it will only get better! **

**This chapter isn't very funny, but I hope you all still like it. I guess it is just getting into the more serious side.**

**Anyways, you know the drill: Review, and another chapter will I reward to you! :D**


	6. Running From the White Witch

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for reviewing, and as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**NarnianWarrior: I'm glad you liked the story! Yes, you are right, I have watched the movie, and I was purposely basing a lot of the lines off of it. Yeah, I know... *looks sheepish* Not very creative, but I didn't want to veer off course from the movie _too_ much.  
Anyway, despite the reused lines, I hope you still like this chapter! ;)**

**Queen Su: Yeah, I thought that since in the book it told how they felt when they heard his name, that I should do that too... Anyway, I hope you find this chapter as good as the last!**

**trichwin: It's nice to hear that you are still enjoying it!**

**justplaincrazy: Yes, he does doesn't he? I wish he had more parts in the movie... :( ... :D**

**amber'eyed'countess: I'm glad you still like it! I have tried to keep it from getting too crazy. ;)**

**Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper: Thanks! Yeah, I didn't want Eden to have a big prophecy and overshadow the Pevensies . I just want her to be sort of an average person thrown into Narnia when she least expects it. :D Plus, I probably couldn't come up with a good 'prophecy' for her even if I tried! XD**

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Peter nodded as he realized, "Yes. Edmund has been here once before."

He looked down at Lucy. "But he was with Lucy when he came. Right, Lu?"

Lucy gazed up at him, her eyes betraying the fear within her. "Not at first, no." She shook her head worriedly. "We were only together after I came back from Mr. Tumnus' house. I found him standing a little ways away from the lamppost, but when I went over to him, he looked... Almost as if he was going to be sick."

Mr. Beaver shot into action as soon as Lucy finished talking."I knew it! Come on, we don't got no time to lose. Grab your coats and follow me." He said, walking out the door.

I grabbed my coat frantically and in my haste, nearly dropped it into the fire! _That would have been disastrous._ Slipping it on, I ran out the door after Mr. Beaver.

Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Mrs. Beaver quickly followed and we started walking rapidly towards the woods southeast of the beaver's dam.

"What are we doing?" Susan asked, definitely afraid now. Well, I didn't blame her. I was afraid, and my whole family was safe and sound at home!

_Home..._ That word sounded so wonderful right now.

"Your brother has met the White Witch, and she's fed him 'er poison! He's under her spell! Now he's left to go to her castle and tell 'er all about our plans to meet Aslan at the Stone Table! There's no way to stop 'em now; we're leavin' for Aslan's camp." Mr. Beaver shouted from his place at the head of the group.

Horror flashed across Peter, Susan, and Lucy's faces as they saw the truth and immediately stopped, everyone else stopping with them. I paled but tried to remain calm. 'Tried' being the key word.

Peter walked up to Mr. Beaver. "NO! We have to stop him! We have to find him before he gets there!"

Mr. Beaver yelled, "It's too late already! You can't go after him!"

"I HAVE TO!" Peter yelled back, and I saw the emotions warring in his eyes, his facial muscles twitching as he tried hard to control his expression. Suddenly, silence abounded. "Where is the Witch's castle?" Peter asked Mr. Beaver calmly (well, semi-calmly).

The beaver stayed silent, obviously thinking he was doing the right thing. _How could you choose between one brother, or your other siblings safety?_

"WHERE IS IT?" Peter shouted, sounding almost crazy in his desperation. Mr. Beaver was still silent as he looked over at the two mountains Edmund had been staring at. All at once I had the strangest feeling that those two mountains were more important than I thought.

_Wait, I wonder if... Maybe the Witch's castle is near them!_ I wasn't sure if I was right, but I might as well tell them anyway. It might be the only clue we had!

"Th-the hills." I stuttered. Mr. Beaver's eyes shot up to glare at me and immediately I knew I was right. "Edmund was staring at those hills earlier today. I think the Witch's castle is somewhere by them."

Peter's eyes glistened with a small spark of hope as he glanced between me and the beaver. "Are you sure?" He asked shortly.

I nodded, looking down at Mr. Beaver and hoping I hadn't made him angry with me. Peter ran off towards the mountains. "Come on!" He ordered the rest of us.

Everyone ran after him, even Mr. Beaver, though he did so reluctantly. Mrs. Beaver wasn't so cold-hearted and followed more quickly (no offense to Mr. Beaver).

I ran behind everyone, not wanting to be the first to see the Witch's castle. I couldn't imagine what Peter and Susan were feeling like right now, not to mention poor Lucy!

If my brother was under a spell by an evil Witch and was going to her to give her information about our whereabouts for a reason that was most likely horrible and scary... I shuddered. I couldn't think about it – I just couldn't.

We ran, no one talking, and no one getting tired (...except for me. Why did I have to be in such bad shape at a time like this?).

At length, we saw a tall, shimmering tower rising up in the not-so-far-off distance. We only had one big hill between us and the castle.

We hiked up it as fast as we could.

"Hurry!" Peter yelled back at us. We finally rounded the top, and there nestled right in between the mountains was a giant castle that looked like it was made of ice. I looked down at the castle gates and saw a small figure walking through and disappearing into the dark opening. The gates closed behind him.

I shivered as an unwanted thought entered my mind. _What if that had been me?_

"Edmund!" Lucy screamed, starting to run after him, and Peter following her. Mr. Beaver grabbed the sleeves of their coats, pulling them back.

"Shh! They'll hear ya!" He whispered harshly. Peter broke out of his grip, and was about to run after Edmund, but I ran forward and grabbed his arm.

"No!" I quietly ordered, hoping that he would listen to me.

"Get off me!" He tried to shake me off, but luckily I had a strong grip.

"What do you think you're going to do? March in there and drag him all the way back the England? Do you really think the White Witch is going to let you have him back just because you asked nicely?" I asked him, trying to get him to see that running down there was NOT a good idea.

"I can't just let him go!" Peter told me, his eyes pleading with me to understand. "He's my _brother_."

"He's right!" Susan cried, "There must be _something_ we can do!"

"Please!" Lucy pleaded, a tear sliding down her cheek. I felt sick. _How could Edmund run off and do this to them?_

Mr. Beaver put his paw on his forehead, looking as if he was trying to figure out how to say something.

"Don't you see?" He asked them, "He's the bait! The Witch wants all four of ya, and if you go down there after 'em you'll be givin' 'er the victory as surely as if we surrendered right now."

Peter obviously didn't understand. "Why does she want us?" He asked in agitation.

"To stop the prophecy from coming true! To _kill_ ya!" Mr. Beaver yelled, looking as if he felt bad for having to tell them that, but at the same time feeling relieved that he had finally made them understand.

I, however, felt even sicker than before. _Did Edmund know what she wanted to do to them? He couldn't have... Could he?_

The three remaining Pevensies looked completely horrified. Lucy had tears streaking down her face, Peter's mouth hung open in silent shock, and Susan looked half-crazy and ready to blow up at someone. Which unfortunately, she did.

"This is all your fault!" She shouted at Peter. Peter looked at her, his face a mask of astonishment.

"My fault?" He asked her, looking like someone had punched him in the stomach, a momentary flash of guilt and pain moving across his face.

_What on earth is she doing? This isn't going to help anyone!_

"None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me in the first place!" Susan yelled as an answer to his question.

He was getting angry now. "Oh, so you _knew_ this would happen?"

She looked deflated for a moment, but it didn't last for long. "I didn't know what would happen." She said, "Which is why we should of left when we still could!"

"STOP IT!" Lucy yelled, and I was immensely happy that someone had interrupted the horrible argument. She walked closer to Peter and Susan.

"This isn't going to help Edmund." She reminded her siblings, and I couldn't agree more.

"She's right." Mr. Beaver walked up to them, Mrs. Beaver walking with him. "Only Aslan can save your brother now."

"Then take us to him." Peter asked, sounding quite defeated, yet determined to get his brother back.

Mr. Beaver gestured towards the path we had used to get here, and we all followed him back to the beaver's dam, no one talking and no doubt everyone thinking depressing thoughts.

We were about five minutes away from the lodge when I heard an odd sound coming from behind us.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Mrs. Beaver, who was walking beside me. She shook her head, confused.

"What did you hear?" She asked me. I shrugged, not quite sure what to tell her.

Suddenly, I heard it again, and it was all too clear what it was. "Wolves!" I said loudly, imagining the worst.

Mr. Beaver glanced behind us looking very alarmed. The howling grew louder and louder and Mr. Beaver's eyes grew wide.

"Hurry! They're after us!" He yelled, taking off at top speed. I tried as hard as I could to keep up with him as we ran to the beavers' dam.

Soon it came into sight, and we rushed to the door. I dared not look back as Mr. Beaver barred the door and Mrs. Beaver wrecked the cupboards taking various things out and throwing them into a small bag.

"What's she doing?" Peter asked, in a tone of voice that suggested she was crazy.

Mr. Beaver shrugged and looked at her impatiently. Mrs. Beaver quickly glanced back at us, then hurried to get more assorted foodstuffs out of the cupboards.

"Oh, you'll be thanking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry!" She said, in a sure but slightly stressed voice.

"I'm cranky now!" Mr. Beaver yelled. _Hmm... he must be hungry._

"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan asked, obviously trying to help, but sounding ridiculous.

"Only if the Witch serves toast!" Peter summed up exactly what I was thinking.

All at once, bits and pieces of the wood ceiling started to cave in, and the howling sounded like it was right on top of us.

Lucy screamed and held her hands over her head, shielding herself from the debris falling into the lodge.

"They're here!" I shouted, freaked out of my wits and wanting very badly to get out of the small room.

"Alright," Mrs. Beaver quickly announced that she was done, picking up her bag, "Let's go! Hurry!"

Mr. Beaver ran over to the corner of the room, and opened a small door in the floor. _I can't believe didn't notice that here earlier!_

He jumped down into it yelling back up, "Come on!" I dropped down and found myself in a long winding tunnel. Mr. Beaver was waiting for us with a lit lantern in his hand. When he saw that we were all there, he pulled shut the tunnel door and started running deeper into the passage. I followed close behind, not looking back and praying that the wolves wouldn't catch up with us.

"Badger and me dug this tunnel; it comes out right near his place." Mr. Beaver explained to us, slowing down a little when the sound of the wolves howls started to fade.

"You told me it led to your mum's!" Mrs. Beaver said indignantly. Mr. Beaver shrugged as an answer.

The howling suddenly grew louder and louder; the wolves were in the tunnel!

"Quick! They're in the tunnel!" Someone yelled. I didn't notice who, I was too busy trying to run.

I ran as fast as I could, following closely behind Lucy and Susan. Without warning, Lucy tripped and fell to the ground, and I tripped over her, falling flat on my face, a sharp pain stabbing through my leg. _I'm going to die! I'm going to die! _

"Lucy!" Susan cried, grabbing her and pulling her to her feet, and running off again... without me.

I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could, and started to run again – only to have my ankle burn with pain. I hobbled along slowly, trying to catch up with the others.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm and lifted me up, pulling me into a run. I put my arm around their shoulder, trying to keep from placing my weight on my injured ankle. I looked over and saw that it was Peter who had come back to help me.

"Is this some sort of three legged race?" I yelled to him, jokingly. He smiled a bit, but didn't answer.

"Hurry, this way!" Mr. Beaver shouted back at us, running forward. And straight into a dead end.

_No, no, no! Please, God! Please don't let them catch up with us! _I prayed.

'You should've brought a map!" Mrs. Beaver shouted at Mr. Beaver, her eyes filled with worry.

"There wasn't room next to the jam!" He yelled back, and if it had been a different situation I would have laughed. As it was, all I managed was a strangled snort, which really only made me feel worse.

He jumped up into a hole in the roof of the passage and everyone followed him as fast as humanly (and beaverly) possible.

As soon as everyone was out, Mr. Beaver and Peter rolled a large barrel over the opening.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief for the umpteenth time that day, and looked over to see if the others were okay.

Lucy was lying on her back on the ground, looking in dismayed wonder at a group of stone statues standing in the middle of the clearing.

Mr. Beaver noticed and his relieved smile faded into a look of shock, his eyes filling with sadness.

He went over to one of the statues and touched it gently. Mrs. Beaver came over to him and softly laid her paw on his arm.

"I'm so sorry, dear." She said quietly. Mr. Beaver turned to her and she pulled him into a hug.

"He was my best mate." He whispered. Peter looked at the statues grimly.

"What happened here?" He asked Mr. Beaver. The beaver was about to answer, but was unexpectedly interrupted.

"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch."

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**Unfortunately, I think this might be my least favorite chapter so far. I hope you think better of it then I do!**

**And I am sorry if I made Mr. Beaver seem a little heartless towards Edmund... In my opinion he was just trying to keep the kids safe, and he honestly thought that they couldn't get to Edmund in time (And he was right!).**

**Anyway, R and R and you'll get another chapter! :D**


	7. Camping In the Woods

**A/N: Sorry for taking a bit longer than usual, I was trying to make this chapter the best it could be! I hope this is an improvement on the story, but if it isn't _please_ tell me. :D Thank you to everyone who reviewed!**

**Lucy Took: Again, thank you so much for telling me what was wrong with the story! Don't feel bad about it, it actually made me feel better that someone told me _how_ to improve it. I really appreciate it!**

**justplaincrazy: Yeah, I totally agree about Ed. I'm sure he'll forgive you though! XD**

**King of Kings' Daughter: Oh, that's so cool! I'll have to check it out! And I am _sure_ you'll be able to do it. If I can, you can! :D**

**Queen Su: Ed's (Eden's) thoughts are fun to write, and I am glad you like them! **

**Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper: I didn't mean to make Susan seem mean ;), from my point of view, Susan didn't mean to leave Eden (me) behind, she was just too worried about Lucy to notice that I needed help! And about Peter to the rescue... I have to admit, I didn't quite imagine the scene like that!**

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A small orange and black fox was standing a few feet away, looking at me and the Pevensies with an odd sort of curiosity on his furry face.

"Who are you?" I asked, immediately suspicious. After all, foxes are related to wolves!

As if sensing my worry, he replied, "My name is Crevan. Don't worry, I'm on your side – I'm here to help."

Mr. Beaver stepped forward protectively, looking like he didn't trust the fox despite his words. "Well, we don't need your 'help' right now."

The fox shook his head impatiently. "Look, you're going to have to trust me whether you like it or not, because right now we've got to move."

"Where?" I asked again, "We can't possibly outrun the wolves; we just barely got here without them catching up to us!" _And eating us for dinner_, I thought, but didn't add.

"If you hide far up in that tree over there, the wolves won't be able to see you, or smell you." Crevan said, pointing towards a very tall tree (that reminded me of a pine except for thicker branches and longer needles) that was standing a few yards away.

My heart leapt into my throat. I could deal with running from wolves, falling into lands that I had before thought were fictional, and having my ankle sprained by an untimely accident, but one thing I simply couldn't (although it was more like 'wouldn't') do was handle heights.

"But they'll see our tracks!" I argued feebly, hoping that he could find another way to hide us.

"I'll take care of that, don't worry. Now hurry, before they get any closer!" Crevan urged us.

We ran over to the tree, the two beavers scurrying up quickly and crouching on a high branch. Susan crawled up next, with a little help from Peter, and then it was my turn.

"Wait! Isn't there another way? I'm _really_ no good at climbing trees!" I cried, looking at the tall tree in unfading terror.

Peter shook his head, and held out his hand to help me up. "You need to go NOW!" He insisted.

I shook my head stubbornly, but despite my fear, I hoisted myself up into the tree using Peter's hand as a step ladder. _How I am doing this with a sprained ankle, I have no idea._

I didn't think about looking down as I climbed higher and higher into the tree, and again heard the sound of howling wolves coming towards us.

After what seemed like an eternity or two, I reached the branch next to the one that Susan and the two beavers were on. Lucy was the next to come up, followed by Peter.

Once we were all safe and 'comfortable', Crevan ran over to the base of the tree and started to brush away our tracks with his tail. _Ingenious little fellow!_

Suddenly the wolves burst out of the hole, easily knocking aside the barrel that had been covering the opening. They quickly cornered Crevan who had just finished erasing our footprints.

I held on tighter to the tree's trunk.

"Greetings, gents. Lost something, have we?" Crevan asked them sarcastically. A deep growl came from what I assumed was the leader of the wolves.

"Don't patronize me! I know where your allegiance lies. We're looking for some humans." He said in a gravelly voice. _Whoa, need a cough drop there?_

The fox just laughed, "Humans? Here in Narnia? Well, well... That's rather important now, don't you think?"

Without warning, one of the wolves tackled Crevan to the ground and roughly grabbed him in his mouth.

The lead wolf walked calmly over to the poor fox. "Your reward is your life. It's not much," he laughed harshly, " but still. Where are the fugitives?"

Crevan hesitated for a moment and I prayed he wouldn't tell the wolves where we were hiding.

He hung his head down shamefully. "North. They ran north." He said, pointing in the direction with his paw.

"Smell them out." The lead wolf commanded.

The wolf that was holding Crevan flung him the the ground, and the wolves left, running to the north.

I looked down at Lucy who was sitting beside me. Her eyes were wide and I couldn't quite tell what her expression was. Something between relief, fear, shock, and just plain fatigue.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, just in case the wolves had super-hearing.

She nodded slowly and looked up at me. "Thanks." She smiled.

I smiled back. "You're welcome." The wolves were gone and we were safe, for a while at least. _Now I just have to get down from this tree. Perfect._

I waited until everyone else was off the tree, and then I slowly crawled down, branch by branch.

Finally, I jumped onto solid ground, thankfully landing on my unhurt foot. I half-walked, half-hopped over to where the others were standing around Crevan. _Oh no! I totally forgot about him! Is he... dead? _

"Ahh!" He yelped loudly, flinching away from where Mrs. Beaver was trying to get a good look at his wounds. _Oh yeah, that one is definitely alive,_ I thought smiling.

"Stay still, or it'll continue hurting!" She ordered, and Crevan relaxed a bit. She looked up at the sky for a moment, and then at Mr. Beaver and us.

"It's getting dark; we'll need to light a fire if we're going to stay here tonight." Mrs. Beaver thought out loud.

"Well, it's not as if we're short on firewood. I'll go try to find some." I said, trying to be helpful.

"Yes, you all go get some nice, dry wood, and I'll tend to Mr. Crevan here." Mrs. Beaver said, shooing us off into the woods.

I traipsed through the woods for a few minutes, mostly just walking in a circle around our camping site so I wouldn't get too far away. I picked up several pieces of wood that had already fallen to the ground, but there weren't very many of them. _I suppose I'll have to start assaulting the still standing trees._

I dumped my rather small pile of wood on the ground and went up to a dead-looking tree. I grasped one of the branches, pulling hard, but it didn't come off.

_Hmm..._ I pulled harder, tugging it this way and that way. I gave up for a minute, resting against the tree. _Ugh! What's this thing made of, kryptonite?_

"I don't think that branch is going to break off." A voice said from behind me. I looked back over my shoulder, continuing to tug.

It was Peter, looking rather amused. I turned back to the stubborn branch.

"You'll see." I said pulling as hard as I could, "It'll come... AHHHH!" I screamed as it gave away and broke off, making me fall backwards into the snow, the branch landing on top of me.

Peter laughed, and I looked up at him pretending to be annoyed. "Oh, shut up." I said, but after a few seconds of trying hard to look irritated, I started to laugh too.

We both sat (Well, actually he was standing and I was lying on my back on the ground) there chuckling for a few moments (I was worried that we were going a little crazy from stress!) until I said, "Well, are you going to sit there laughing forever, or are you going to help me up?"

"Actually I was thinking of sitting here and laughing forever." He replied, only half-jokingly, but nevertheless coming over to help me. _After everything that's happened, I'm sure that all of the Pevensies wish they could just sit and laugh, _I thought, sadly.

I pushed the branch off of me and grasped his offered hand, pulling myself to my feet. "Thanks." I said, picking up the branch off the ground, along with my other pile of wood.

"Which reminds me," I said, "I wanted to thank you for coming back for me when I tripped in the tunnel. I honestly thought I was gonna die!"

He smiled as we walked back to where the rest of our group was piling the wood. "You're welcome." He said.

We reached the 'firepit' and I threw the branches I had collected onto the growing pile. "How are we gonna start this thing in the cold?" I asked.

Mr. Beaver knelt (if beavers can kneel) down by the firewood pile, and said, "Like this!"

He started rubbing two sticks together, and after a few minutes, a fire slowly but surely started to spread onto all of the logs.

"There ya have it!" He exclaimed, plopping down onto the snow tiredly. "A nice, warm fire."

We all sat down, making a small circle around the fire. Me, Susan, Lucy, Mr. Beaver, Mrs. Beaver, Crevan, and Peter.

Crevan was looking a bit better now; Mrs. Beaver must have given him something for the pain.

"If you don't mind me asking," Susan began cautiously, "What happened to those animals back there?"

Crevan sighed sadly. "They were helping Tumnus, but unfortunately for them, the Witch got here before I did." He explained.

"OW!" He cried, jerking away from Mrs. Beaver. She was in the process of stitching up his wounds, and I winced for him, not imagining that it felt very good.

"Stop squirming! You're worse than Beaver on bath day!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed, glancing at Mr. Beaver who shuddered.

"Worst day of the year." I heard him whisper to Lucy. Suddenly Crevan got up, and looked down at Mrs. Beaver gratefully.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I'm afraid that is all the cure I have time for right now." He said.

Lucy's face fell. "You're not leaving, are you?" Crevan nodded a bit sadly, but his eyes were full of excitement.

"It has been a pleasure, my Queen, and an honor. But I must go, as Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops." He told us, and now I knew exactly why he was excited.

"You've actually _seen_ Aslan?" I asked him, very interested to hear more about him. I wanted so badly to meet the Great Lion myself!

"What is he like?" Lucy asked eagerly. _Now is a time I really wish I had LWW with me... _Then I remembered: I DID have it with me! I looked back to see if it was still where I had put it last. I looked inside my coat, and found the little pocket that had been (strangely enough) the exact size for my book to fit into. I reached down into it and pulled something out. It was LWW!

_Good, safe and sound. But I still can't open it! Oh well, it'll make a nice souvenir once I get back home! _I didn't notice it at the time, but my heart didn't hurt quite so bad when I thought of home that time. I stashed the book back in my jacket pocket, and listened closely to Crevan.

"He's like... everything we've ever dreamed of. Amazing... Simply amazing. You'll be very lucky to have him by your side in the battle against the Witch." He said looking serious, but happy.

I stared at him in shock, my mind whirling. "Fighting? We're going to be fighting? I can't fight, I'm only a kid!" I protested, my eyes wide with growing panic.

He shook his head, "Yes, you'll all be fighting... But wait. Are you one of the Four?" He asked me sounding puzzled and turning to look at all of us."The prophecy tells of two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve... four in total. But here I see three Daughters of Eve and only one Son of Adam."

"Well, actually, I'm not one of the Four. My name's Eden, and I'm just kinda stuck here so I came along for the ride." I answered. _Oh yeah, that sounds _so_ cool, 'Eden'. Why couldn't I think of something more interesting like: "I'm their guardian" or " I'm really a great warrior in disguise" or even (If I was REALLY, EXTREMELY desperate) "I'm a Mary-Sue!"... AGH! What have I thought? I shouldn't ever, wouldn't ever, couldn't ever call myself a Mary-Sue! It would be against a writer's code of conduct!_

"How did you get here?" The fox asked curiously, interrupting my silent ramblings.

"Well, I just kinda... dropped in." I said lamely. Crevan nodded, somehow seeming to understand.

"I am sure that if Aslan truly called you here, then he has a great purpose for doing it." He said, looking at me seriously.

Crevan's expression then turned to confusion. "But where is the other Son of Adam?" I grimaced and glanced at Peter.

He was staring at the ground uncomfortably. "He... he has been put under a spell by the White Witch." He said, looking as if he didn't want to say anything more.

The fox looked at Peter sadly. "I am very sorry to hear this, my King. But I have faith that Aslan will be able to save your brother."

"I shall look forward to meeting you all again, but for now, I must take my leave. My King, my Queens..." He nodded to the Pevensies then turned to me, "My lady." Then he walked over to Mr. and Mrs Beaver, but I didn't hear what was said because I was too caught up in my own thoughts. '_My lady'! He called me a lady... What a gentleman! I wonder if I really do have a purpose here... _

Crevan then departed, disappearing into the forest. I hoped that it wouldn't be the last time we saw him, but with a war going on, I feared that it just might be.

"Well, we had best be getting to sleep if we are to start traveling again in a few hours." Mrs. Beaver said, laying down and curling up in the snow.

Lucy had already laid down, bundled tightly in her coat. Peter lay down beside her, and like the protective older brother he was, grasped part of her coat as if to make sure she wouldn't be dragged off while he was sleeping.

"Someone should stay awake to keep watch though, right?" I asked, worried that the wolves would find out that Crevan had lied to them and come back here searching for us.

"Right you are." Mr. Beaver agreed, standing up a little straighter as if trying to keep himself from falling asleep. "I'll keep watch, don't worry 'bout it, you go ahead and go ta sleep."

He looked so tired, that I couldn't help but offer, "No, you should sleep, I'll keep watch. I'm less tired than you." I said, although I was sure that I felt every bit as tired, and mentally kicked myself for telling him I would watch.

He narrowed his eyes at me, as if he wasn't sure that I could do it. "Alright. If you're sure." He replied at length, settling down comfortably next to Mrs. Beaver. Everyone was soon asleep, except for Susan who was still sitting beside her siblings.

She stood up and walked over to where I had started to make myself comfortable in the cold snow.

"You don't have to stay up to help watch." I told her as she sat down next to me. "I think can handle it."

She shook her head slowly. "It's not that. I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to."

I looked over at her, and noticed how sad she looked. _I can't imagine how much she must be worrying about Edmund right now._

"Are you okay?" I asked her softly. She shrugged.

"I'm not really sure right now. I'm just so scared, yet so angry at the same time... I'm sorry." She said, and if it were day light I was positive I would have seen her blushing. "I'm sure you don't really want to hear all about the 'trials and tribulations of Susan Pevensie' right now."

"I don't mind." I said, waiting patiently for her to continue if she decided to. _I have all night, anyway._

"Well, I don't really even know you..." Susan said, eyebrows furrowed.

"That might be a good thing." I started, and she looked at me strangely. "I mean, sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger about your problems than a close friend – don't ask me why, I don't really know." I shrugged. "But I promise I won't judge you, whatever you say."

"Thanks." She said quietly. I played with the snow at my feet while she gathered her thoughts, not even sure if she would say anything more to me at all.

Finally she broke the silence."I..."

I looked over at her. She was looking at the ground, twisting a pine needle between her fingers.

"I just feel scared, hopeless, angry, and almost strangely excited all at the same time." She told me in a rush, looking confused at herself. "I just don't understand."

_Oh dear, I hope she doesn't expect me to be some sort of psychotherapist... _

"Are you scared for Edmund?" I asked her, trying hard to understand. I didn't know what good I could do, but I was willing to try. _Though I am__ around her age... It's not as if I'm some wise, old adult._

She nodded slowly. "Yes, but I am also angry at him... And at Peter, too."

I was slightly confused by this, but it _did_ explain why she blamed him when Edmund ran off from the beavers' dam.

"Why are you angry at Peter? What did he do?" I asked, studying her face to see her reaction.

She pursed her lips, and I hoped I hadn't made her mad with my questions. She didn't seem the type to easily tell people her feelings.

"He was too hard on Edmund. Edmund got really upset when Dad left... You see, my father is fighting in the war." She said wistfully. I felt bad for her, and also wondered what it was like to have been living through World War II.

"I tried to understand how Edmund felt, but Peter acted like he should have behaved the same way as always, as if Dad were still home." She looked angry now, and I saw a small glimpse into what was happening inside her head.

"Susan," I told her quietly, "It's not Peter's fault for what happened to Edmund."

She met my gaze and I was surprised to see tears in her eyes, "I know that, but I can't help feeling like he could've tried harder."

I thought about it for a moment. "How did you feel when your Dad left?" I asked bluntly, hoping my idea would help her understand.

"Well... I felt scared, alone, and worried. I was really afraid, but I tried to be brave for Lucy and Edmund." She replied.

"Think about it." I said, "How do you think Peter felt? How would you feel if your mom left and you felt like you had to take her place and try to do everything she did?" She looked up at the sky, obviously thinking.

Her furrowed brow smoothed and her eyes widened. "I guess I never really thought of it that way." She said softly, glancing back at her sleeping siblings.

She turned back to me with a small smile. "Thank you, Eden. I hope you don't think I'm crazy or anything."

I shook my head, giggling. "No, not crazy... Just about normal." I said, smiling back at her. "Think you can sleep now?"

"I could if I wanted to, but I'm not really tired. If you want, I'll stay up and watch if _you _want to sleep." She offered, and I scrutinized her, trying to see if she was just saying it or really meaning it. I decided she meant it.

"Well, if you say so!" I said, collapsing onto the ground and curling up into a ball. I snuggled deeper into my coat and the last thought I had before falling asleep was:

_Maybe being in Narnia isn't so bad after all._

* * *

**Poor me... I mean Eden! XD Narnia might seem a little less nice in a few chapters. **

**I am not so sure about this chapter. I hope Susan and Peter (Especially Susan) didn't seem OOC (Out Of Character)! *looks worried***

**Well anyway, review and tell me what I need to improve! :D**

**EDIT: Agh! I just noticed that when the computer messed up earlier, it took out some of the words and phrases I had put into the chapter! I edited it to add them back in. They aren't so important, but it did fix some of the mistakes (That it seems none of you noticed anyway :P ) like Crevan saying "But there are five of you." when there was only me, Susan, Peter, and Lucy.**

**Anyway, hope it sounds a little better now! Adios till the next chapter!**


	8. Across the Frozen Lake

**A/N: Just to let you know, the last chapter was edited a bit. You'll see the reason why if you go back and read the Author's Note at the end of the last chapter.**

**King of Kings' Daughter: That sounds really funny about what happened to you and your sister! And no, I don't especially like Peter (or William M). I mean, he's cool and everything, but my favourite character is definitely Edmund! XD I hope I didn't make my character seem like she liked Peter, or vice versa... If I did, it was totally accidental! ;) **

**Queen Su: Oops... Sorry about the description issue! I was being a lazy writer, but I fixed it so it sounded a little better. Also, I am sooo glad that you thought Susan was in character! And I am again sorry about Peter being OOC, even if he was only a little bit. Hope this chapter is better than the last, and if you have any suggestions, please tell me!**

**justplaincrazy: Ooh! I am really happy to hear that you think she is starting to fit in more. And I agree that Crevan is awesome! He might show up later (Maybe, and if so it will probably be towards the end) so keep your eyes open. :D**

**Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper: Good! I am very glad to hear that Peter and Susan didn't seem OOC. I was pretty worried about that (Well, as worried as one can be about a fanfic... Which now that I think about it, can actually be alot!). XD**

* * *

_I was in the middle of a house, sitting in a very comfortable chair. The room looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. _

_I looked down and saw something rather strange on my lap. It looked like two squares attached together with a picture on the top one, and lots of letters on the bottom one. I started to press the letters and, as I did so, they appeared on the top and made words, though I couldn't make out what they were. For some reason, this activity made me very happy. _

_Suddenly, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I looked up and saw that it was my mom. "It's time to get up." She said, and I looked back at the strange object on my lap. "I'm almost done with the chapter. Just five more minutes!" I begged her, starting to press the odd letters with more speed. _

_Again, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I looked up impatiently and saw that the whole room had turned pitch-black. "What the...?" I exclaimed, and tried to get up from the chair, only to find myself laying on the ground. I rolled over and..._

Planted my face directly into the snow. Screeching and brushing the freezing slush off, I shot up from my place on the ground and looked around wildly. I was still in Narnia, in the middle of a thick forest, and I was sitting right by a little fire that was burning brightly. The sun was just beginning to rise over the distant hills, and only a few warm rays reached us. Mrs. Beaver stood beside the fire, holding something that looked a little like a melted piece of moldy bread.

"Good morning, dear." She said, chuckling. "I'm glad you're finally up. You would have missed breakfast if you'd slept a moment later."

I glanced around, trying to blink away the blurriness of sleep. Mr. Beaver was sitting down, eating what appeared to be the same thing that Mrs. Beaver was holding (and he looked like he enjoyed it too!), and I saw Peter, Susan, and Lucy sitting a few feet away. They weren't holding anything, so I wagered that they had already finished their breakfast.

I stood up and stretched, yawning until I was out of breath.

Lucy looked over at me and smiled. "Good morning, Eden!" Susan and Peter glanced up and bid me a good morning as well.

"Yeah, good mornin' to y'all." I drawled tiredly, momentarily slipping into a Southern accent (Southern U.S. that is).

I started to walk over, but Mrs. Beaver stopped me. "Don't forget your breakfast, dear!" She said, and handed me the odd looking piece of bread.

I grimaced and shuffled over to the Pevensies, holding the bread up to my nose and sniffing cautiously. I gagged, but managed to keep the contents of my stomach where they belonged.

Lucy noticed my reaction and giggled. I sat down beside her. "Am I supposed to eat this?" I asked, looking at it in disgust.

"It's not _so_ bad." Peter said, greatly emphasizing the word 'so'. I raised my eyebrows worriedly, and Susan gave me a sympathetic look.

"It _is_ pretty bad, but once you get past the first bite, it goes down a bit easier." She whispered, trying to make sure Mrs. Beaver didn't hear.

I looked at the piece of bread, debating on whether I should eat it or not. _I could just bury it in the snow! Yeah, that's an idea... But then I'd probably starve and die anyway. Ugh. Well, here it goes._

I took a huge bite out of the side of the slice, and my face contorted into a look of repulsion. It tasted like a piece of Limburger cheese combined with rotten onions and a few cabinets for good measure (And trust me, cabinets don't taste good. They're all wood, furniture polish, and glue. How do I know this? Don't ask – it's far too long a tale).

I sat there for a few moments choking, until I finally forced the gunk down my throat. "What's in this thing?" I croaked out.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Beaver overheard my question and took the liberty of answering it.

"Why it's made of good, old piquant wheat, maple wood (from a non-talking tree, of course), willow cambium (again, from a non-talking tree), and fermented kakreon berries." She said cheerfully.

I, however, was not so cheerful. I put my hand over my mouth, cringing at the new knowledge of what I had just eaten, and turned to the three Pevensie siblings who were looking a bit green as well.

"I CANNOT eat this." I whispered, looking back to see if Mrs. Beaver was watching. She was talking to Mr. Beaver, unaware that I was even thinking about her bread. I turned back to the Pevensies. "How on EARTH – I mean, how in NARNIA did you manage to eat that whole piece?"

Peter's face contorted, as if reliving a trauma. "Just swallow it quickly, and then eat some snow to wash away the taste."

I looked up at the sky. _Lord God, please don't let me die trying to eat this thing._ I closed my eyes, quickly bit off a huge chunk, chewed for a few revolting seconds, and then swallowed quickly as Peter had told me. I then grabbed some snow off the ground and shoved it into my mouth, letting it melt and wash away the horrid aftertaste. After that, I repeated the process once more, and fell back onto ground relieved.

"It's over." I sighed happily. Mrs. Beaver trotted over to us, and I was worried that she had heard part of our conversation.

"It's time to get going now. Are you ready, dears?" She asked us, and I sat up quickly and nodded.

"We're ready too, Mrs. Beaver." Susan told her, standing up and walking back over to the fire. I followed her, wanting to warm my hands before we left.

I was holding my hands over the fire, getting them nice and toasty, when Mr. Beaver called out, "All right you four! Let's get movin'!"

I ran to catch up with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who were starting to walk directly east. _I dearly hope today won't be as 'exciting' as yesterday. I'm beginning to think that excitement is really overrated._

Me, the Pevensies, and the beavers walked for a while silently. As we traveled through the quiet forest, I tried to pass the time by mentally reciting poetry.

_Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright,_

_In the forests of the night,_

_What immortal hand or eye, _

_could frame thy fearful symmetry?_

Unfortunately that was the only stanza I knew from the poem, and I had no clue as to what it meant. _Hmm... maybe it's a legend about some tiger that got caught on fire and no one could catch it to put it out? Agh... Who knows._

I gave up on that poem and decided some Shakespeare might be interesting.

_What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;_

_So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes_

_Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee_

_Take all myself._

_My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee,_

_The more I have, for both are infinite._

_Meh... Beautiful, but too romantic. Not that I don't love a good romance, but when it gets as extreme as Romeo and Juliet, it's simply not plausible anymore._

I soon got bored with poetry and started to whistle _For Elise_. We walked and walked for a rather long while and I was in my twelfth repeat of the song when someone interrupted the long silence we had been walking in.

"Eden, do you really _have_ to keep whistling that song over and over?" Peter asked irritably. _Boy, someone needs a nap!_

"Well, what else can I do? I am soooooo bored!" I complained, kicking at the snow and watching it fly up into the air and float back down.

"Why don't you just... think?" He suggested tiredly, "Anything but whistling, please."

"Sorry, I had no _idea_ it was bothering you so much." I said with a slightly sarcastic tone, which I hoped no one had picked up on.

But someone did.

"I hope I don't hear you children fighting back there!" Mrs. Beaver called back to us. I glanced at Peter, raising my eyebrows.

"We weren't fighting, Mrs. Beaver. We were just having a little disagreement." He said looking over at me to see if I agreed. _Seeing if I will agree that we disagreed? Ironic, aye?_

I shrugged and we kept on walking. Suddenly, Mr. Beaver stopped and turned back to us.

"There's a stone bridge ahead that we have'ta cross. It's safe, but pretty narrow, so be careful." He said to us, walking forward again.

Mrs. Beaver came back to walk with us. "The bridge has an amazing view. You can see almost all of Narnia!" She exclaimed, and I was rather excited to see. _I wonder how big Narnia really is?_

We quickly got to the stone bridge, and when I discovered that it was actually natural, not man-made, (or creature-made in this case) my whole perspective of it changed.

_What if it's unstable? _I panicked. _What if it falls while we're on it? What if we..._

"Come on, ev'ryone!" Mr. Beaver called back. He was already standing in the middle of the perilous looking stone arch.

I gulped, but followed the others, who were already traipsing across it. _Like it's the easiest thing in the world. Hah!_

I stopped cautiously in the middle, standing next to Lucy. I stared open-mouthed at the marvelous view. _It's just magnificent!_

"Aslan's camp is near the Stone Table, just across the frozen river. We should get there before dark." Mr. Beaver said, pointing to the southeast.

I looked in that direction, but didn't see anything except trees, hills, and a huge frozen lake that stretched out before us.

"I don't see a river. Is it big? 'Cause I don't especially think I'd like to swim in this weather." I blurted out hurriedly; just thinking about swimming in the snow made me shiver.

Mrs. Beaver shook her head, chuckling. "Oh, the river's been frozen solid for a hundred years! Don't worry, you won't be getting your feet wet today."

"It's so far." Susan breathed, looking out towards the horizon. _Hmm... It doesn't look far to me! But then again, I didn't enter Narnia through a six foot tall wardrobe._

"It's the world, dear." Mrs. Beaver said, glancing up at her with amused eyes. "Did you expect it to be small?"

Susan shrugged, but leaned towards Peter and whispered, "Smaller."

We continued our trek, climbing down the steep slope on the other side of the stone bridge, hiking through a bit more forest, and ending up marching across the frozen lake.

I trudged through the snow, walking in the back of the group. Peter and Lucy were in front of me, then Susan, and in front of her were the two beavers.

"Hurry up! We don't 'ave forever ya know." Mr. Beaver yelled back to us. I heaved a long, drawn-out sigh, wishing I had been holding my MP3 player when I fell into Narnia.

I skipped up next to Lucy and Peter. "You want to play '20 Questions'?" I asked her, desperate out of boredom. _Wow, Eden. You're sounding really whiny. You'd better be quiet before I get mad at you,_ I reprimanded myself, wondering what others would think if they heard me talking to myself.

"What's '20 Questions'?" asked Lucy innocently. She didn't know that nearly every time I played this, I won... one way or another. I snickered evilly (well, as evilly as I could, which wasn't very).

"Basically, I have to think of something, and you have to guess what it is. Except, you can only ask questions that have 'yes' or 'no' answers. Like: "Is it blue?" or "Is it a type of gem?". And you can only ask 20 questions. Hence the name." I explained, trying to make it sound fun.

Lucy smiled, and said, "Alright, let's play." I tried to think of something wouldn't be too hard for a first time player like her to guess, but also something that wouldn't be _too_ easy.

_Aha! Perfect. _

"Okay, I've thought of it. Ask your first question." I grinned, wondering what it would be.

She thought for a moment before asking, "Is it an animal?"

I shook my head. "Nope. You have 19 more questions left."

She started to think again. "Is it a person?" She asked curiously.

"Nope." I replied.

She pushed her hair behind her ear. "Is it a machine?"

"Nope."

Mr. Beaver, not even bothering to look back (as it would probably waste too much time), shouted, "Come on, keep going!" I walked faster and waited for Lucy's next question.

"Is it a plant?"

"Nope."

"Is it white?" She asked randomly.

I grudgingly replied, "Yes. You have 16 more questions left."

"Is it soft?" She questioned. I half-nodded, half-shrugged.

"Is it cold?" She asked, and again I nodded. She smiled triumphantly, and I knew she had the answer.

"Is it snow?" She inquired eagerly. I nodded for the millionth time and smiled reluctantly, but then broke into a real grin.

"You won! Mazel tov!" I congratulated her, and she looked at me strangely. I then realized that she probably had no idea what it meant.

"It means congratulations." I explained to her, and she smiled understandingly. I made a mental note not to quote movies when in the company of someone from the 40's.

"Hurry up, humans! While we're still young!" Mr. Beaver yelled back, and I rolled my eyes. Peter bent down and Lucy climbed onto his back.

_I wish I could have a piggy-back ride right now, _I thought, and my aching legs agreed with me.

"If he tells us to hurry up one more time, I'm going to turn him into a big, fluffy hat." Peter exclaimed, humorously exasperated.

Lucy giggled, and I would have too if Mr. Beaver hadn't shouted again, "Hurry up! Come on!"

I walked faster and started to stomp jokingly. "Can't he just be quiet?" I asked, and then turned to Peter.

"If you _do_ decide to make him into a hat, then tell me, 'cause I wanna help." I sighed tiredly. I looked over my shoulder to see to see how Susan was doing.

She seemed fine, just a bit tired as all of us were. Suddenly, I noticed something moving behind her. It was somebody driving a sleigh!

"Who's that in the sleigh?" I yelled up to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who both immediately whirled around.

"It's her! Run!" Mrs. Beaver cried, starting to run. Mr. Beaver looked back at us, motioning for us to move quicker. _HER? The witch? Oh joy!_

"RUN!" he shouted at us, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the sleigh that was quickly gaining on us. Lucy jumped off of Peter's back and we all ran as fast as possible to the forest on the other side of the lake.

Which, just for your information, looked very far away. _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!_

Lucy slipped, and nearly fell, but I grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her up, determined to make sure she didn't fall this time.

_I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, _I thought over and over, hoping beyond hope that the Witch wouldn't catch us. _I super-calli-fragilistic-expi-alidocious don't want to die!_

We just barely made it into the woods, the White Witch hot on our trail. Mr. Beaver motioned towards a small cave and yelled, "Inside! Quick, quick!"

Peter, Susan, Lucy and Mrs. Beaver all disappeared. He then waited for for me to get in, and I was almost there when suddenly I felt something sweep my feet out from beneath me and I flipped over onto the ground, well out of reach of the cave.

Mr. Beaver looked at me in horror, seemingly frozen in his place, torn between helping an innocent though unimportant human, or keeping the future king and queens of Narnia safe.

"Go!" I whispered as I heard the sleigh come up behind me and stop. Mr. Beaver scurried into the cave. The soft crunch of footsteps in the snow came towards me. I closed my eyes and waited for sudden death. _Will I soon feel a knife slicing through my heart? Or maybe I'll feel myself quickly yet painfully turn to stone? Or maybe I'll be taken prisoner and burned alive at the stake... What a heroic way to die. But an extremely painful way._

But the pain I expected didn't come.

Instead, I felt a warm hand on my face and a kind voice saying:

"Are you alright, dear girl? You took a nasty fall."

I opened my eyes.

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**Ooohhh, a cliffhanger! XD Well, not really, but it's close enough. :P I hope you liked this chapter, although it was a bit boring. **

**The next one should be pretty exciting... I think. ;)**

**Well, read and review and another chapter I'll give you! :D**


	9. Father Christmas in Narnia

**Disclaimer: Thought it was about time for another of these... I DON'T OWN NARNIA! I NEVER WILL! x( GOT IT? ;P**

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in so long, but I had a bit of a hard time deciding some things about this chapter; things that might affect the rest of the story. Plus, I was a bit out of motivation... but I got through it! Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!**

**Queen Su: Thanks! I'm glad you liked the ending. :D**

**King of Kings' Daughter: *giggles* Yup. Me and being bored don't always mix well! XD Ooohh... You have a touch of writer's block? :( That's no fun, but I'm sure you'll be over it in no time! I can't wait for the next chapter in your story! :D**

**justplaincrazy8: Yeah, sometimes I get really into fanfics from different movies and totally forget about Narnia ones! But when I get back to them, I remember how much I love reading them! Hehe, I'm happy to hear you liked the Shakespeare part. ;)**

**Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper: Oh yeah, clumsiness can be a real pain, especially if you are running from an evil witch! :P I don't really know why the '20 Questions' thing came to mind, but I'm glad you thought it was cute! **

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A friendly-looking old man with a very long, gray beard was leaning over me, a concerned expression on his round face.

_He doesn't look like a witch to me... but maybe it's her in disguise!_

"Are you alright?" He asked me again, and I decided that the White Witch most likely wouldn't ask me if I was okay; She would probably be preoccupied interrogating me and turning me into stone.

"Yes, I think so." I told the man, and I took his hand and got gingerly to my feet, hoping I hadn't hurt myself again. _Yay! Nothing hurts! _I thought as I examined myself and found neither scratch nor bruise.

I looked at the old man with confusion. If he wasn't one of the Witch's cohorts, then who was he?

He was wearing a burgundy coat that was lined with fur, and a russet shirt and matching pants.

"Who are you?" I asked him curiously. He laughed whole-heartedly, and I suddenly got the odd impression that I had seen him before.

An image popped into my head, and I would have laughed it off if I hadn't noticed how much the man in front of me resembled it.

"Y-you're ...?" I began to ask, but was too worried that I had gone insane to finish my question. My eyes grew wide as he nodded.

"Yes, I am Father Christmas. But I believe I am known in your world by many other names." He replied in a merry voice, finishing my question for me, and I blinked. _NO WAY! He's... real? I can't believe it!_

"Yes, in my world you are known by many names! St. Nicholas, Pere Noel, Sinter Klaas, Gwiazdor, Pai Natal, Shengdan Laoren, Julenissen, and many others." I listed them off, counting on my fingers. _I'm slightly obsessed with Christmas, aren't I?_ "I thought you were just a story though!" I exclaimed, still in shock that I was conversing with Santa.

Then I remembered, "But wait, I have to go get the others! They'll want to meet you, too."

I ran down to the small cave and poked my head in. Peter, Susan, Lucy, Mrs. Beaver, and Mr. Beaver were all huddled together and when they saw me I was met with several ear piercing screams. I cringed and rolled my eyes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you guys! You all can come out now though. You won't believe who's here!" I told them excitedly, running back up to Father Christmas before they could say anything else and waiting for them a bit impatiently. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver came out first, and they smiled brightly when they caught sight of St. Nick. They nodded towards him and he smiled back.

Then Lucy came out, followed by Peter, and then Susan. Lucy looked up at Father Christmas in awe and broke out into a huge smile. Peter appeared to be momentarily surprised, but soon started smiling too. Even Susan smiled a bit after she got over the shock of seeing St. Nick standing before her!

Lucy walked forwards, clasping her hands in front of her. "Merry Christmas, sir." She told him gaily. He smiled down at her.

"It certainly is, Lucy, now that you are here!" He replied, and Peter stepped a bit closer.

"We thought you were the Witch." He explained, and I nodded quickly in agreement.

"Yeah, I was expecting to be killed." I exclaimed, thankful that it wasn't the White Witch who had been chasing us after all.

"Yes, yes." Father Christmas nodded and laughed, "I'm sorry about that, but in my defense, I have been driving one of these longer than the Witch."

"But I thought there wasn't any Christmas in Narnia." Susan stated, but it came out more like a question. Father Christmas shook his head.

"No, not for a long time." He said sadly, "But the hope that you have brought, Your Majesties, is finally starting to weaken the Witch's power. Still, I dare say you could do with these." He went over to his sleigh and pulled out a large, red velvet sack. _He has PRESENTS? _

"Presents now?" I questioned incredulously, and his jolly laughter rang out again. _He loves to laugh, loud and long and clear; He loves to laugh, it's getting worse every year!_ I sang in my head.

"When your as old as I am, child, now is all the time you've got." He declared, smiling widely at me. _Funny... That phrase seems somehow familiar._

Father Christmas motioned to Lucy and she ran forward eagerly. He searched in his bag, finding something and holding it out to her. I stepped a little closer to see what it was.

It was a small vial of reddish liquid, and Lucy took it, holding it carefully. _Not quite the kind of present I was expecting,_ I thought, but was intrigued and wondered what it was.

St. Nick unknowingly answered my question for me. "This is the juice of the fire-flower. One drop will cure any injury, no matter how grave. And..." He reached into the sack again, and this time pulled out a small dagger. He handed it to Lucy. "Though I dearly hope you never have to use it."

She looked up at him, gratitude filling her blue eyes. "Thank you, sir. I _think _I could be brave enough."

He nodded, smiling grimly. "I'm sure you could, but battles are ugly affairs, and even uglier when things are so desperate as to have women fight in them." He turned to Susan, and she stepped forward uncertainly.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a beautiful bow and a quiver of arrows. He handed them to Susan who took them hesitantly.

"Susan, trust in this bow, and it will not easily miss." He told her reassuringly. But she looked a little uncertain.

"What about 'battles are ugly affairs'?" She asked, and he patted her on the shoulder and reached into his bag once more.

"Though I would not wish for you to have to fight, the time may come when you are needed to. But I believe that this may help." He pulled out an ivory horn and gave it to her, "Blow on it and wherever you are, help _will_ come."

She nodded appreciatively, and Father Christmas turned to Peter who walked forward.

"Peter." He said seriously, handing him him a long sword in its scabbard and a shining shield with a red lion emblem on it. "The time to use these may be near at hand."

Peter drew his sword and held it up to examine it in the sunshine. "Thank you, sir." He said fervently, and Father Christmas turned to me. My heart pounded in my chest and I wondered if he would give me a present too.

"Eden." A shiver went up my spine (a good one). He reached into his velvet sack once more and pulled out something small and shimmering. I held my hand out, and he dropped it into my palm.

I peered down at it and my eyes grew wide. It was ethereal; a deep red, star-shaped jewel on a exquisite gold pendant that was attached to a slim golden chain. The jewel looked almost as if it held a fire within, and when I held it up, it glittered brilliantly in the light.

"This gem came from an island near the end of the world; there is no other jewel like it. If you ever need to arrive somewhere swiftly, then grasp the pendant in the palm of your hand while thinking of where you wish to be, and you will appear there." Father Christmas told me, and my mouth fell open in astonishment. He continued, "But be careful in your use of it. Though the gem will retain its abilities for many years, using it too often will make it lose its power quickly."

I blinked, feeling sure that he had made some mistake. _This is much too great a gift to be given to someone like me. __He must think I am one of the Pevensies. This gift must have been meant for Edmund! I guess I'll have to tell him..._

"I'm not one of-" I began, but he cut me off with a motion of his hand.

"I know exactly who you are, child. The gift is and always was meant for you." He said to me gently, and I felt my heart swell with happiness and an good sort of pride.

I nodded still astounded by the amazing gift I had been given. "Thank you so, so much. I _will _be careful with it, I promise. Will you help me put it on?" I asked him, and he smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"I would be honored, dear girl." He replied, and I turned around. He lowered the necklace over my head and fastened the clasp securely.

I smiled, and a strange kind of excitement took hold of me. I was actually looking forward to seeing what would happen during the rest of the day!

Father Christmas walked back to his sleigh. "These are tools, not toys. Bear them well and wisely." He grabbed his bag of presents and climbed up into his sleigh. "And Beaver!" He called out to Mr. Beaver. "When you get home, you will find that your dam has been finished; complete to the last detail." Mr. Beaver looked very happy and and thanked Father Christmas profusely.

"Now, I must be off. Winter is almost over, and things do pile up when you've been gone a hundred years! Long live Aslan!" He picked up the reigns.

"Merry Christmas!" He yelled back to us as he rode away. I waved and called out:

"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

"Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas, sir!" "Goodbye, sir!" "See you next year!" "Goodbye!" The Pevensies and the Beavers called after him.

Mrs. Beaver chuckled happily, and Lucy turned to Susan and Peter with something akin to a smirk on her face (But not a mean one; Lucy could never be truly mean).

"See? I told you he was real." She said, and I grinned, Peter shook his head laughing, and Susan rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Well, we 'ad better get goin' again." said Mr. Beaver, and we all started walking in the same direction as before.

"But wait... Father Christmas said winter was almost over, right?" I asked Mr. Beaver, a troubling thought popping into my head. A glance at Peter confirmed he was thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, what's yer point?" The beaver asked me as a reply. _That the river might be melting, and we'll never make it in time to get across! _I was about to say, but Peter got to it first.

"If winter is over, then that means... no more ice!" Peter exclaimed, and he was exactly right. _No, duh!_

"And no more ice means..." I prodded, trying to get them to understand. Susan caught on quickly.

"The river!" She cried, and a look of distress passed over Mr. Beaver's face.

"Come on, we've gotta hurry!" He shouted, and ran off into the woods. _Again with the running? It seems like that's all we ever do!_I thought, but this time I was a bit better prepared.

We followed closely after him, and in half an hour (Although in all likelihood it was shorter than that... I was still having a bit of trouble keeping up, and the minutes of running seemed to drag on and on) we reached the small cliff over looking the river.

I felt my heart skip a beat. The ice was already beginning to crack and crumble, and was quickly being pulled away by the water. It wasn't looking like we had much time.

"We need to cross it now!" I yelled impulsively, and started making my way down to the river. It was overshadowed by a frozen waterfall, and I wasn't quite sure if what I was doing was a good idea.

"But don't beavers make dams?" I heard Lucy ask from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the others had begun to follow me.

"I'm not that fast, dear!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed as I jumped down onto the river bank. I was soon joined by Peter, Lucy, and Mr. Beaver. Susan and Mrs. Beaver weren't far behind.

"Let's go, come on!" I said, and stepped quickly onto the ice. It shifted and water shot out of a small crack that I had failed to notice. I immediately stepped back and glanced nervously at Mr. Beaver. He looked back up at me.

"Maybe I'd better go first." He suggested, just as Mrs. Beaver and Susan joined us. Susan looked very worried, and I'm sure I didn't look much happier.

"Wait, why don't we just think about this for a moment?" She protested, and I would've agreed with her, except that we didn't have much time.

"We don't have a moment, Susan! The ice is breaking away! We need to go now." I urged her, and Peter nodded.

"Eden's right! It'll be ok, Su. I promise." Peter said hurriedly, but gently. Susan shook her head like she knew we had to do it, but still thought it was crazy nonetheless.

"It's just... if Mum knew..." Susan shook her head again, but Mr. Beaver had already gone out onto the frozen river, tapping the ice with his tail to see if it was safe or not.

The ice cracked and water sprayed up, but it remained intact. Mrs. Beaver looked suspiciously towards Mr. Beaver.

"You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?" She accused him, but somehow she didn't really sound very angry.

He shrugged and continued to carefully work his way across the river. "You never know which meal's gonna be your last." He said, then mumbled under his breath, "Especially with your cooking."

"I heard that!" Mrs. Beaver called to him indignantly, but she couldn't help but smile when he flashed a sheepish grin her way.

"I think it's safe, go ahead and start comin' over." Mr. Beaver said, and I stepped lightly onto the ice. I took another wary step, and then started walking as carefully as I could across the river.

I peeked behind me to see how far I had gotten, but in doing so, I noticed something else instead:

The Witch's wolves were right behind us, getting closer and closer with every second!

"THE WOLVES!" I screamed, but in my shock it came out more like "YA WOLBSES!". Everyone's heads snapped around to see what in Narnia I was yelling about, but as soon as they did, they started running. I tripped and slid across the ice as fast as I could, and I heard the Pevensies and Mrs. Beaver shouting at me, "Hurry up! Run!"

Suddenly, just when we were only a few feet away from the opposite bank, some of the wolves jumped down in front of us, cutting us off!

I turned around, only to see the grim truth: we were faced on both sides by wolves. I cowered behind Mr. Beaver as he bared his long teeth and growled at the huge dogs.

As an answer, one of them jumped on top of him, roughly pinning him to the ground. "No!" Mrs. Beaver cried in a terrified voice, as I jumped back, away from the wolves and closer to the others.

"Your sword! Get your sword!" I whispered frantically to Peter, who was standing beside me. He wasted no time and immediately drew his sword and held it in both hands, trying to look dangerous and sure of himself, but instead looking panicked and terrified to the core.

I put my hand to my head, feeling a major panic attack coming on. _Oh, please, please, PLEASE don't let us get killed, Lord Jesus! _I prayed silently.

"Put that sword down, boy. Someone might get hurt." The lead wolf said mockingly.

"Don't worry about me! Run him through!" Mr. Beaver yelled, and the lead wolf snarled loudly at him and looked up at Susan. _He really needs a name; calling him 'lead wolf' is getting really boring. How about... Elmo! Yeah! I always disliked that show anyway..._

"If you leave now, your brother will go with you." Elmo said to her, but I knew it had to be a lie. Why would the Witch give Edmund back to them and lose all hope of winning the war? But even though it sounded pretty ridiculous to me, Susan looked as if she was beginning to believe it.

"M-maybe we should listen to him." She said to Peter, but he shook his head. Elmo smiled eerily and gave a harsh chuckle.

"Smart girl. I'm sure we can work out an arrangement if your brother will put his sword away." He tried to persuade her, but Mr. Beaver interrupted him before he could go any further.

"Don't listen to 'em! Kill him, kill him now! He's nothin' but a traitorous dog!" Mr. Beaver shouted angrily. I looked over at the water, watching another piece of ice break off.

"Hurry up and do _something_... I don't think we have much time!" I whispered to Peter, my voice squeaking nervously, but he barely glanced at me.

"Come on! This isn't your war. All my queen wants is for you to take your family and go!" Elmo tried to reason, and for some strange reason that sentence made my blood boil with anger.

"LIAR!" I yelled at him, and his yellow eyes flashed towards me venomously, as if daring me to go on so he would have another reason to rip me to pieces.

I took the dare. "Your only mission is to kill us, and if Peter didn't have his sword stuck dangerously in your face, then we would be dead already." I told him, my voice sharp as a cat's claw. He snarled and started forward.

"Get back!" Peter shouted at Elmo, and the wolf stopped in his tracks. Lucy's eyes shone with fear and Susan looked white as an albino tarsier.

"Look, just put the sword down and we can figure this out." Elmo suggested in a far too casual voice. Mr. Beaver narrowed his eyes.

"No, Peter! Narnia needs ya! Gut 'em while ya still have the chance!" He yelled and the wolf holding him down growled at him viciously.

"What's it gonna be, Son of Adam? Are you going to come with us and get your brother back, or are you going to be stubborn and sow the consequences? I won't wait forever, and neither will the river." Elmo stated coldly, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Lucy glance up at the frozen waterfall and scream.

"_Peter_!" She cried, and everyone turned to look. Chunks of ice were breaking off and falling to the ground, water starting to seep through the widening cracks.

Peter's eyes grew wide and he grasped his sword tightly. "HOLD ON TO ME!" He shouted, and forcefully stabbed his sword deep into the ice.

Even though we were in a rather desperate situation, and were pretty much about to die, my ridiculous mind couldn't help but think: _Hold on to _Peter Pevensie_?__ ACK! How awkward!_

But no sooner had I thought that then I felt water dripping down onto me from above, and immediately lunged towards the object nearest to me, grasping it in a death grip and squeezing my eyes shut.

_Funny, this doesn't feel like a coat..._ I thought, but I didn't have time to think anymore about it.

Behind me, I heard what sounded like a million glass windows shattering at once, and then a huge roar...

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**LOL, I love cliffhangers! **

**Pretty please review, I love hearing what you guys think about my story! :D**


	10. Aslan's Camp

**A/N: Helloo there! I'm back! XD Hope you all had fun waiting; And thank you all soooo much for reviewing!**

**Replies to My Reviewers**

**Queen Su: It's good to hear that you liked the chapter! I hope this one is even better than the last. :D**

**PippinBaggins: Yeah, chickens are great, aren't they? Unfortunately, the ones I have in this story are... ghosts! Well, kinda. It's just that, in real life, they all got eaten up by wild animals, and I don't have any more left. :( I'm really glad you are enjoying the story though! Say hello to Lloyd for me! ;)**

**King of Kings Daughter: Don't worry, I have no intentions of turning 'Eden' into a Marysue! ;)**

**justplaincrazy8: Lote! Cool word combination. :D And nope, she didn't hold onto a penguin, just a... Wait! I can't tell you, that'll spoil the story. XD**

**Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper: Hehe, I hope I posted soon enough; you aren't gonna hurt me now, are ya? ;) And, no, I didn't get the necklace idea from 'Harry Potter'. I have never actually read any of the books or watched the movies. So I literally couldn't have stolen the idea. :P**

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As if in slow motion, I felt the ice block we were on jerk forward and what seemed like a giant hand pushing me under the water. The ice cold river enveloped us, and I tried hard to hold onto the object that was anchoring me to the ice. _This is the coldest water I've been in since Uncle Steve dared me to jump in the pool last December!_

Suddenly, I was floating freely and I squinted through the water to see that I was no longer on the ice block with the others. I swam as fast as I could to the surface, fighting the strong current that was dragging me downstream.

Finally, I broke through the surface and gasped for air like a fish without gills. I pushed myself through the water, trying to get to land.

After a few minutes of unsuccessful attempts, I passed by a nice long tree branch that was conveniently leaning over the river and quickly grabbed it before I could float any further.

I pulled myself up onto the shore and tiredly lay on the ground, ending up terribly muddy in the process. _So much for this being a nice, quiet, non-exciting day. Not to mention clean. I think I'm gonna change my mind and be happy that my MP3 player didn't come with me._

In an instant I sat up, wondering if the others were okay. I got to my feet, surveying my surroundings carefully.

I was in the middle of the woods, and oddly enough, there was very little snow left on the ground and even a few small patches of fresh, green grass were starting to grow. The same type of big oak trees that I saw near the lamppost now blocked my view of the sky, and flowers were poking through the leftover snow around them. But there were no Pevensies or beavers in sight. _Oohhhhhh great. I must have floated farther down the river than they did. Either that or they didn't ever make it out of the river... NO! I will not think that. I just won't._

I crossed my arms stubbornly to ward off any other unwanted thoughts. _So now what?_

I noticed a shiny, black object lying on the ground, and I bent to pick it up. It was a boot! A very muddy boot that rather matched how I looked at the moment. _It's Lucy's! So that's what I was holding onto when we were on the ice block... I guess that would explain why it didn't feel fuzzy and soft like a coat._

I threw it down, but then thought better of it and, whilst sighing heavily at my habit of unintentionally making things harder for myself, picked it up again. Who knew? Maybe Aslan's camp was in need of an extra boot.

_But I don't think I'll be able to get it to them if I can't figure out how to get out of this forest. Unfortunately for me, the probability of it is highly unlikely... what, like 0.00009% chance? _

A sudden idea popped into my head, and I cupped my hands over my mouth, shouting into the forest. "HELLOOOOO? IS ANYONE OUT THERE?"

Surprisingly, no one answered back. But that didn't stop me from yelling at the top of my lungs:

"HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!"

After repeating this process a couple of times (and ending up with nothing but a sore throat), I walked over to a clump of trees and unceremoniously fell to the ground in front of them, spreading my arms out wide.

_You're supposed to stay in the same spot when your lost, right? Hmm... Somehow I don't think that's going to help me here in Narnia. But it's not as if I have any other choice... And somebody HAS to find me eventually._

I slowly moved my arms and legs across the ground, making a sloppy mud angel (Not that there is any other kind). _Kinda like a lazy form of jumping jacks._

Suddenly, I realized what I was doing and shot up off the ground, taking my coat off carefully so I wouldn't get any mud on my already rather dirty outfit underneath_. What in the world is wrong with me? Agh! My brain probably got half frozen or something._

I shook it out (The coat, not my brain) and draped it across a sturdy looking tree branch to dry. I sat down on a large log that happened to be laying next to me and sighed.

"Well," I said out loud, "I guess I'll just have to stay here till help arrives. I sure wish I had some company."

Grabbing the boot, I took it and looked at it carefully. _Perhaps you can be my buddy, eh? Wha'dya think?_

I drew a quick smiley face in the mud on the front of it, and set it down on the log beside me.

"Now all you need is a name." I said to the boot. _I must be going insane, honestly... I'm talking to a BOOT!_

I ignored that thought though, and continued to try to think of the perfect name for my new found companion.

"How about Darcy? Or Liz? Or Joe? Or Frank? Or Isis? Or... Murrrppphhy! Perfecto!"

I smiled brightly, and turned to Murphy.

"So Murphy, how's your life? You having an interesting day so far? 'Cause I sure am. In fact, the past few days have been nothing but a lot of confusion. Does that sound fun to you? 'Cause it sounds scary to me. But exciting too, don't forget exciting. If something is exciting that always makes up for the bad stuff about it. Except for going to the hospital. Yeah, that is NO fun. Like this one time when I went to the hospital because I had an ear infection and they thought I had some weird disease because my arms were hurting and my neck was slightly crooked from throwing up so much... That type of bad stuff cannot be made up for with excitement. Roller coasters too. Roller coasters are another definite exception. There is nothing good about going down a hill at a speed so fast it makes you feel like your head is gonna blow off. Have you ever been on a roller coaster? I wouldn't recommend it. I'm sure it can't be good for you... That's probably why I am talking to you right now! MY HEAD'S BEEN PERMANENTLY DAMAGED BY A ROLLER COASTER!"

I stopped for a breath of air and looked over at the boot.

Murphy just sat there smiling, seemingly unfazed by the rapid speed at which I was talking. I patted him on the back, and he promptly fell over into the dirt... dead as a doornail.

I abruptly started laughing like a maniac. _I killed Murphy, I killed Murphy... I guess I'm in Talon's league now._ I stopped suddenly though, when I realized what I was laughing about. I leaned back, trying to forget that I was lost in the middle of the woods, sitting on a log, and talking to a dead boot named Murphy.

I blinked as I tumbled backwards off the log and onto the ground. _Now my favorite shirt is totally muddy too. Completely wonderful._

I stood up, and started to think. "So, what am I supposed to do?" I asked myself, figuring that the less time I talked to Murphy, the more chance I would have of getting out of there relatively sane. _As sane as I was before, that is._

I pushed my hair out of my eyes, noticing for the first time how tangled it was. I combed my fingers through slowly, but it didn't make much of a difference. _I really hope they have a brush in Aslan's camp. If I ever get there._

I put my hand to my chest dramatically, and declared in a loud, grief-stricken voice, "Oh, woe is me! My hair is uncombed and my makeup is most likely smeared and I am lost in the grand woods of Narnia with no idea where to go!"

Under my hand, I felt the necklace that Father Christmas had given me. I picked it up and no sooner than I did so, a thought knocked on my brain, demanding to enter. I opened the door for it and immediately flicked myself in the head, as soon as it came to me.

"No duh!" I exclaimed, and rolled my eyes at myself. That habit I mentioned earlier was sure getting a lot of screen time today.

I ran over to my coat, and grabbed _LWW_, forcing it into my pocket and unintentionally crumpling some of the pages. _Sorry, C.S. Lewis._

I held the pendant tightly in my hand, and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember what St. Nick had told me.

_He said to hold it in your hand (Check!) and think of where you want to be... But how am I supposed to do that if I don't even know where Aslan's camp is or..._

My thoughts froze as a strange, tingling sensation spread throughout my body and I felt as if someone was pulling on my arm- hard. I had the weirdest feeling of suddenly becoming unstuck, and then it all ended abruptly. My eyes shot open and I wildly looked around.

I was on the edge of the woods, standing on a hill overlooking a big, green meadow with rocky cliffs surrounding it. It was filled with many tents, and an uncountable amount of creatures were walking about. I laughed out loud, surprised at how easy it had been to use the necklace. _I can't believe I'm here!_

"Who goes there?" I heard a male voice say from behind me. I jumped and turned around quickly, raising my hands in the air.

It was a young guy in shiny armor, and he was holding a very sharp looking sword. At least that's what my first impression was. When he moved closed though, my eyes bugged out and I saw that instead of a pair of normal human legs, he was sporting a pair of goat legs! And rather long ears as well. Not to mention the horns that were sticking out of his head.

_He must be a faun! I didn't know they were so funny lookin' though._

"Who are you and what is your business here?" The faun dude asked me, and I shrugged helplessly. He looked down at my legs and then at me suspiciously. _What in Narnia's wrong with my legs?_ I thought, wondering if they had some rule about legs in Narnia.

"What _are_ you?" He asked, still staring at me strangely, and I gathered that he hadn't met many humans before.

"I'm a human." I told him in a I'm-not-dangerous-so-you-don't-have-to-run-that-sharp-sword-through-my-midsection kind of voice. He looked surprised, but immediately lowered the weapon he was previously threatening me with.

"You are human? I suppose you do look like one." He mused, sounding awed. I frowned, blowing my hair out of my eyes and lowering my hands to my sides.

"Well, I sure hope so!" I said, joyfully sarcastic. "Anyways... My name is Eden, and I was traveling here when I got kinda lost. Um... Well, could you like... you know, take me to your leader?"

He nodded eagerly, "Yes, of course, Aslan has been expecting you. But where are the rest?" He asked, his face covered with the same amount of confusion as I was covered with mud.

"Um... I'm not really sure. They were with the beavers... They should be along soon though!" I said, trying to sound hopeful and to block out the fear that the Pevensies might not have made it to land at all.

"Well, come with me then, and I shall take you to meet with Aslan." He told me, motioning for me to follow him. We walked in silence for a moment until I decided that I didn't like walking with someone whom I didn't know very well.

"What's your name?" I asked, and he looked at me raising his eyebrows.

"My name? Why would you want to hear my name?" He asked me in reply, looking a bit surprised.

"Because I like to hear names?" I said lamely, smiling a bit too brightly. He looked at me like I was crazy, and I rolled my eyes.

"Look, why wouldn't I want to know your name? It's not as if I'm anyone important. And I thought you were only a soldier."

He stopped unexpectedly and I had to turn around and walk back to him.

"What do you mean you aren't anyone important? Are you not one of the Daughters of Eve from the ancient prophecy?" He demanded, and I realized my mistake.

"Whoops... I guess I kinda forgot to clarify that, sorry." I smiled and held my hands in front of me just in case he decided I was enough trouble to warrant taking his sword out again.

"No, I am not one of the Daughters of Eve. I was just traveling with them. I'm their..." I wanted to say friend, but I wasn't really sure if they considered me a friend yet. I mean, I had the advantage of reading about them far before they even met me... Or did I? I didn't quite remember anymore. _Hmm... I'll have to look at that book in my pocket later to see if it'll open yet._ "I'm their helper." I finished, not even bothering with trying to convince him. I guess it worked because he didn't look very convinced.

"Well... when we get to camp, Aslan will determine whether you are telling truth or falsehood." He told me at length. I sighed loudly and we started walking down the hill again.

"You never told me your name." I mumbled sulkily, but he didn't say anything, so I thought that he either wasn't listening or still didn't trust me.

After a few long seconds of just plain walking, the faun dude turned his head to me.

"My name is Kiremnus." He said, and it made me feel nice that he told me. _I guess he doesn't not trust me __completely__._

We went on down the hill, and about halfway there I noticed that all the creatures throughout the camp were stopping their work and staring at something in the middle of the camp. I stood on my tiptoes and strained to see what they were looking at.

There were three figures walking slowly through the crowd, and two small, furry blobs waddling beside them.

_Oh wait... Those aren't blobs, that's the beavers! And Peter, Susan, and Lucy beside them!_

"There they are! They're alright!" I shouted, starting to run off, eager to be in the company of someone I recognized, but Kiremnus grabbed the back of my shirt effectively halting me.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, trying to keep me still, and unfortunately for me, doing a good job of it. _I didn't know fauns were so strong! Or maybe I'm just weak. Oh well, anyways..._

"HEY YOURSELF!" I screeched, batting him away. I soon found out that it wasn't the smartest move as he drew his sword and held it right in front of my nose. I froze on the spot, and barely dared to breath.

"If you aren't going to comply, then I am afraid I will have to silence you." He told me seriously, but sounded a bit annoyed too.

I heaved a sigh and said, "Fine, as long as you put that sword away. And as long as I get to go down there and see my, er, the people I am supposed to be helping. Alright?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound tough.

He hesitated, finally nodding slowly and looking up at the sky as if asking Aslan for patience. _You don't need much patience with me though, so I'm sure it only _looks _like that's what he's doing._

We walked down into the camp, all sorts of creatures flocking around us. Even few wild animals too; a cheetah, a grizzly bear, lots of horses, another cheetah (or was that a jaguar?), even a gorilla! I passed by another animal, and thinking it was a horse, turned to get a closer look at it.

"Hey theeeerrrrre..." I started to say, but then trailed off when I saw that the horse I was talking to was no regular horse. It was only half of a horse, completed with the head and torso of a fierce looking woman on top of it! _Oh. My. Gosh._

I slowly backed away as she stared at me with clear blue eyes. _I dearly hope I did not offend her. From what I've heard, offending a centaur is only something you do when you have a sincere death wish._

"S-s-sorry!" I squeaked out, and she gave me a small, amused smile. I smiled back, relieved, and continued on through the crowd until I was right behind the Pevensies and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver.

I followed them for a few more moments, and then stopped with the rest of the crowd when they came to a very big tent.

Peter drew his sword carefully, holding it in front of him like a banner. "We have come to see Aslan!" He declared in a loud voice to a huge centaur guard, who in turn, looked to the tent in expectation and bowed low to the ground.

Everyone else immediately started bowing too, and although I had no idea why they were doing it, I lowered myself to the ground anyway.

Though I couldn't see what was happening while I was kissing the dirt, I could sure listen! _Thank You, God, for giving me good ears._

There was a momentary pause, and then I heard a deep, melodious voice say:

"Welcome Peter, Son of Adam. Welcome Susan and Lucy, Daughters of Eve. And welcome to you beavers; you have my thanks." The same wonderful feeling that I had in the beavers lodge was back now, full force. I knew that the voice had to belong to Aslan.

Aslan continued with a question I could have seen coming seven miles away, "But where is the fourth?"

"That's why we're here, sir." It was Peter talking again. "We need your help."

"We ran into a little trouble along the way." Susan's gentle voice said haltingly.

I felt someone flick me on the shoulder and I peered up to see Kiremnus standing, looking at me and motioning as if to say 'Get up already, will you?'.

I glanced around and felt my cheeks redden a bit. Everyone else had been standing up for a few minutes already, and I had been laying there like a fool with my face in the dirt.

"Our brother... has been captured by the White Witch." Peter said simply, but I could still hear a great deal of worry in his voice.

I looked over at where I had heard Aslan's voice coming from, and my mouth hung open in shock. _He's a LION? I wasn't quite expecting that. But he is even more amazing than I imagined._

Aslan looked as if he wasn't totally surprised at the news of Edmund's capture, but very upset nonetheless.

"Captured? How could this have happened?" He asked, wondering aloud. Mr. Beaver shifted and I almost expected him to raise his hand.

But he didn't. Instead, he only replied in a solemn voice, "He has betrayed them, Your Majesty."

The centaur guard standing near Aslan looked as if someone had just called him a pony, patted him on the back, and force-fed him a carrot. In other words, he looked furious.

"Then he has betrayed us all!" He declared angrily, stomping one of his hooves onto the ground (Don't mistake this for a childish action like a baby stomping its feet; it was very serious and a bit scary too).

But Aslan just raised a paw and the big centaur immediately quieted. "Peace, Oreius. I'm sure there is an explanation." He said calmly, and Peter shifted a bit and glanced at Susan.

An awkward silence filled the area, until Peter broke it.

"It's my fault, really." He said in a guilty and regretful tone. "I was too hard on him."

Susan looked at him sadly, and put her hand on his shoulder. "We all were." She confessed, and I felt horrible for them, but glad that Peter and Susan had seemed to resolve the anger that they had been spouting towards each other. Susan had told me the night before that she blamed Peter for what happened to Edmund. But it looked like she had thought about it, and now saw that it wasn't really any one person's fault.

"Sir, he's our brother!" Lucy pleaded desperately, and Aslan looked at her with big, sad eyes.

"I know, dear one, but that only makes the betrayal all the worse. This may be harder than you think." He said slowly, and I stepped a bit closer.

"You're the only one who can help us, sir." Peter said softly, and Aslan nodded, looking very serious.

"I will help you get your brother back, Son of Adam. Of that you need not worry." He said gently, and I was completely sure that he would do what he said.

Peter smiled a bit, but then his smile faded. "I'm afraid we have another problem, sir." He said slowly, and I wondered what else could have gone wrong.

_The second I lose them and they're already making a mess out of things, _I thought fondly, rolling my eyes. _Lucy didn't lose her flower-juice stuff, did she? 'Cause that would be a real shame._

"There was another girl with us, but on the journey here we... were separated." He explained, and I gaped as I realized he was talking about me. _They actually remembered me? Well, I guess it's not SO impossible._

"Is there anything we can do to try to find her, sir?" He asked Aslan, actually sounding a bit worried.

"Please, sir." Lucy said quietly, "She might be hurt."

"She's all alone – who _knows_ what might happen." Susan added, albeit a bit hesitantly. _Wow. I didn't think they cared about me that much! I guess I was wrong... HEY! Is Susan implying I can't take care of myself?_

Aslan chuckled, "You may stop worrying, dear children. She is safe and sound; as you shall see for yourselves if you look behind you." He stared straight at me, his eyes smiling. I felt a warm feeling pour through me as Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the beavers all turned around.

I smiled sheepishly and walked forward. "Hiya guys... Miss me?"

"Eden!" Peter exclaimed, looking surprised. _I_ was rather surprised to see relief on his face.

Lucy's eyes lit up. "You're alright!" She cried, smiling brightly.

"Where on earth did you go?" Peter questioned, obviously amazed that I was alive. _I didn't go anywhere 'on earth', Pete,_ I thought semi-sarcastically. Susan stepped up beside him.

"How did you get here?" She asked, and the Mr. and Mrs. Beaver stepped closer too.

"We thought ya had drowned!" Mr. Beaver told me, and Mrs. Beaver came over and put her paw on my arm.

"I was so worried, dear!" She said, and I grinned. _I can imagine._

"Well, it's a bit of a boring story, but basically I fell off the ice into the water and swam to shore. Then I... well, that part's not important. Anyway, I figured that it would have been a perfect time to use my necklace, so I did and that's how I got here." I told them, making sure to leave out the part where I went temporarily insane. But then a thought came to me.

"Oh wait! I forgot Murphy." I exclaimed, feeling slightly bad that I had forgotten Lucy's boot. The Pevensies and the beavers all stared at me strangely. Each resembled the following with frightening similarity : O_o .

"Who's Murphy?" Lucy asked, looking confused. I shook my head. _I really need to work on that habit._

"Your boot... I named it Murphy." I tried to explain, and Peter raised his eyebrows.

"You named a boot Murphy?" He asked slowly, in a mixture of disbelief and amusement. I rolled my eyes.

"Please don't talk to me like I'm crazy... please?" I pleaded, and then shrugged."What can I say? I got bored and lonely just sitting there."

Everyone else stopped looking at me like I was insane (Instead, they shook their heads, obviously giving me up as an oddity without explanation), but I noticed Susan still staring at me a little funny, and I examined myself to see what she thought was so weird. _Do I have a hole in my pants? Oh drat, I hope not. Or maybe it's my smeared makeup that she finds so odd. Hmm, I wonder..._

"What's wrong? Do I have mud on my face or something?" I asked her, and she blushed a little.

"No, it's just that... what _are _you wearing?" She asked incredulously, and I remembered the outfit I currently had on. I guessed that she hadn't really noticed it when we first met, otherwise I'm sure she would have commented like she just had. But it couldn't have gone unnoticed by all of them. _No wonder Peter handed me that coat so fast!_ _Whoops. I guess a girl wearing shorts would be considered rather improper in 1940's England._

I suddenly felt very awkward.

"Oh, well, um... These are my, um, pajamas... I think. Well, I did sleep in them _one_ time, and I, um, er.. well..." I stuttered, having a bit of trouble thinking of a good excuse.

Aslan chuckled and everyone turned to him. "Perhaps you should all go and rest; you have had a long journey." He nodded to Kiremnus and the faun stepped forward.

"Kiremnus will show you to your tents, and I will see you in the morning." He told us, and although I didn't want to leave him, I couldn't argue with the idea of rest, so I reluctantly followed the faun along with Susan, Lucy, and Peter.

Kiremnus stopped in front of two tents not too far off from a nice little stream, and held open the entry way of the first one for Peter. "This will be your tent, my King. Tell me if you are in need of anything else."

After thanking Kiremnus, Peter nodded at his sisters and me. "I guess I'll see you three tomorrow. And remember, I'll be right here if any one of you needs me."

I mentally smiled that he had remembered me (Don't freak out, it was NOT a symptom of MSS (Mary-Sue Syndrome)). It made me feel happy that they seemed to be accepting me a little more and even treating me just a _bit_ like part of their family. _I wish my brother was here now... I wonder where he is anyway? I guess he's back home. Hmm..._

Peter disappeared inside his tent, waving goodnight, and Kiremnus led me, Susan, and Lucy to the other one.

"This will be your tent, my Queens, and yours as well, miss. Tell me if you need anything else." He pulled the doorway open for us and we stepped in. Susan thanked him, and he left.

The tent was by far the most beautiful tent I had ever seen. There was a soft, wine red rug underneath my feet, and three hammock-like beds, one on each side of the large enclosure. The beds all had at least two pillows, which were each silky and of a shimmery golden color. Simple yet elegant comforters lay on the beds, and a wooden chest sat near the doorway were I stood.

Lucy sat down on one of the beds, and Susan walked over to the chest and opened it. I ran over and flopped onto the bed opposite Lucy, and looked over at Susan who was pulling something out of the chest.

"It's beautiful!" Lucy exclaimed, and I saw that Susan was holding up a gorgeous, olive green dress. _If that's what we have to wear here, then I have absolutely no problem with it!_

"It is very pretty, isn't it?" Susan agreed, putting it back, and closing the chest. "But we should really be getting to bed now, it's almost dark."

"You don't have to convince me!" I sighed, and pulled the blanket over myself. Susan walked over and sat down in the remaining bed, letting out her dark hair and laying down.

I snuggled deeply into the hammock, and immediately found I had a bit of a problem. _Oh great. _I shifted around and around, but couldn't seem to find a position where my toes weren't sticking at least three inches off the end of the hammock. _Oh the joys of being tall._

I gave up and closed my eyes, dearly hoping that there wasn't any creature in Narnia that liked to feast on toes during the night. I foggily heard Susan and Lucy say 'goodnight' to each other and me, and before I fell asleep I managed to mumble out:

"G'night."

The last thing I heard that night was the tittering of birds.

* * *

**ACK! I am officially done with editing. I am sure there were a million more things I could try to fix in this chapter, but I am so tired of reading through it that I am just going to be done with it.**

**WHOA! That was the longest one yet! It sure took a while to write. I'm not sure if I like the meeting with Aslan though. The characters just seemed off to me... Sorry if they were OOC! If you thought they sounded better than I did though, than please tell me! I hope I am just overreacting. ;)**

**Anyway, THIS IS AN OFFICIAL NOTICE:**

**I am going to be taking a break from writing this (and fanfic in general) for about a week or maybe half a week, cause (Strange as it might sound) I have been too preoccupied with this story, and I haven't been able to get my normal stuff done. Plus, I think my mum's getting kinda annoyed at all the time I have been spending on the computer. XD**

**In short, for my mum and myself, I am taking a small break from this story and I will most likely be back in a week!**

**Thanks, and feel free to Read and Review!**

**Eden54 **


	11. A Quiet Narnian Morning

**A/N: HEEEYYYYY! My lovely reviewers, I'm back! Thank you so much for being so patient with me... I'm really sorry for being gone so long. I hope you'll forgive me. ;)**

**SPECIAL NOTICE: We've made it to 52 reviews! Thank you guys for reviewing so faithfully! I couldn't have done it without you. *heart***

**Okaaay, so I've gotten so many reviews from the last chapter that I'm going to be taking a break from answering reviews. Just for this chapter, and then I will be back to answer your reviews next time, 'kay? Sorry 'bout that, but I want to upload this chapter as soon as I can, plus answering 7+ reviews would take up a TON of space here. :D**

**God bless and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_Feathers light as stardust, Soaring to the heavens,_

_Built on wings of doves, Set to the melody of the air,_

_Gliding up, Swooping down, Sailing on the breeze,_

_Near to angels, Close to God, Flying over the tranquil seas..._

I cracked my eyes open, the last few remnants of a beautiful dream escaping my mind and burying themselves away into the darkness. _Funny... I know that poem sounds familiar, but I can't seem to remember who wrote it..._

I squinted around slowly, realizing that it was still mostly dark; Only a small amount of light sneaked through the thin, red fabric that covered the tent.

I glanced over at Susan and Lucy and saw that they were still sleeping peacefully, tightly curled up in their blankets. _I might as well get up. Maybe somebody has breakfast fixed already! Hopefully it's something other than Mrs. Beaver's tree-mush bread. Although it was strangely filling..._

I quickly shifted one foot out of the hammock, and then the other, trying to be quiet so as not to wake the two Pevensies. I straightened up, and tip-toed over to the wooden chest that Susan had opened last night. _There had better be a dress in there that fits me, 'cause I really don't want to spend the day wearing dirty clothes. Plus, I don't especially want Susan staring at me like I'm an alien._

I unlatched the lock on the chest, and then pulled the top up carefully, wincing as it squeaked. I looked down into it and rummaged through the different dresses until I came to one that looked about my size.

The long dress was dark turquoise, and had beautiful silvery embroidery on the front. The material was soft, but strong, and I highly doubted it would tear easily. _A good thing too seeing as, for some strange reason, Narnia seems to amplify my clumsiness..._ I draped it over my bed for later and pulled the tent opening back, glancing behind me to see if either of the girls had awoken. _Good, still asleep. Now for the problem of finding a decent, unpopulated place to wash._

I slipped out of the tent, and looked around. Surprisingly few people were up, only a couple of fauns and one Oreius the centaur. I looked around, scrutinizing the area. _Now where did that stream run off to?_

I jumped as I heard a voice from beside me say, "M'lady?" I whipped my head around and came face to face with none other than Kiremnus, the faun that I had met yesterday. I shook my head, rolling my eyes and running my hand through my hair nervously, something I sometimes do when caught off guard.

"Funny, I kinda got a sense of deja-vu about this... Except that you don't have your sword pointed at me this time." I said sarcastically, but in good humor.

Kiremnus slightly tilted his head to the side, obviously not understanding the concept of "deja-vu", and the sudden image of my neighbor's dog popped into my head. I giggled, and Kiremnus raised an eyebrow. _With his head tilted like that he does resemble a puppy a little bit... Except that I've never seen a dog with such green eyes before... _

I shook my head again, trying hard to dislodge the ridiculous image of Kiremnus crawling around on his knees with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Do you need anything, my lady?" He asked with just a hint of annoyance in his tone. I nodded, guessing he still didn't trust me entirely, and motioned over towards the woods behind the tent.

"I, erm, need to get cleaned up, and I was looking for that stream I saw last night. I seem to have lost it though. " I told him, and then quickly added, "And I might _possibly_ need a towel too. If it's not too much trouble."

Kiremnus nodded, half an inch of a sigh escaping his mouth, as he pointed to the left of me. "The stream is straight that way. Go on ahead and I will get you a towel."

"Sure, thanks." I turned around and walked towards where he had pointed. I crept slowly past the two tents in which the oblivious Pevensies were slumbering, and into the shade of the woods.

Tiptoeing amongst the fallen leaves, I looked around curiously. This was the first time I had been able to really _look_ at Narnian nature, and I gazed in fascination at the graceful trees, the little flowers that blazed with a million different colors, and the birds that chattered in the sky above me.

A few seconds later, I reached the stream. Walking barefoot towards it, I mentally shouted with joy when I saw that the part I was at was surrounded by a nice patch of trees. _Good! I don't relish the thought of someone spying on me. In fact, if I did catch someone doing that, I would..._

A twig cracked loudly from behind me, and I started, nearly falling into the water. Instead, I landed on dry ground and looked over my shoulder to see who was about to attack me.

It was only Kiremnus, standing there with a towel slung over his arm, looking at me with a face as expressionless as the stones in the stream.

I blinked. "You know, you don't have to scare me out of my wits every time you come near. You could just..." I sighed, seeing the hopelessness of my tirade. "Nevermind." I pulled myself up off the ground and Kiremnus stepped closer.

"Here is your towel, miss. Do you need anything else?" He asked me, looking hurried to get back to the other manly soldiers and away from wimpy me. I took the towel from his hands.

"Look, you don't have to call me 'miss', alright? It sounds unnatural. Please, just call me Eden." I asked with a small sigh.

"If you wish for me to." He replied, and the look on his face seemed to say that he really didn't care. I stuck my nose in the air for a moment, getting a bit impatient, and then I glanced at Kiremnus expectantly.

"So um, could you, like, leave now so I can, you know... wash?" I stumbled over my words. _Argh! Why does this always happen when I talk with him? Maybe all fauns are like this... I'll have to ask Lucy if she caught stutteritis when she met Mr. Tumnus._

Kiremnus nodded, "As you wish... Eden." I watched as he walked away and then called after him:

"Bye, Westley!" He glanced back at me and then continued to walk away, shaking his head. I grinned widely and turned back to the stream.

After putting my towel on the shore where I could easily grab it, I walked over to the lazily flowing water. I glanced around to make sure nobody was hiding in the trees or bushes, then cautiously dipped my toe in. _Perfect temperature!_

Not hesitating a second, I rushed into the river and let the cold water wash over me. After throwing my outer clothes on the shore, I scrubbed myself all over, not leaving a speck of dirt, and then swam over to the shore and picked up the towel. Wrapping it around myself tightly, I walked cautiously back towards the camp – in nothing but a towel and my underclothes. _I would simply die of embarrassment if someone saw me walking around like this... Why didn't I just bring the dress with me?_

I reached the girls' tent and sneaked inside, changing quickly once I made sure that Susan and Lucy were still sleeping. I did up the last button on the dress, and started rummaging in the chest of clothes for a brush. _Oh please, let there be a brush! I can't NOT brush my hair when it's like this! _

After a few moments of frantic searching, I finally found one and brushed out my hair, putting it into a messy braid and tying it with a bit of string I found in the trunk. _Hooray for brushes... Couldn't live without 'em._

I sighed and stepped out of the tent. _Now to search for some breakfast, _my stomach thought. But my brain was pulled towards the woods, _It'd be sooo much fun to go exploring!_

I mentally scratched my head, but soon decided to go exploring and wait till Peter, Susan, and Lucy were up to eat (Don't mistake my meaning – I wasn't talking about eating the Pevensies, I was talking about eating _with_ them).

I quietly walked through the woods, stepping carefully over fallen logs and trying not to trod on anything particularly sharp; Somehow, I had a feeling that I had done that before, and I didn't want to repeat the process.

I had been walking for a few minutes, when I came to a medium sized clearing. I stared at it in awe as a few rays of golden sun shone down through the trees and illuminated the area. It was simply overflowing with all types of flowers: crisp white daisies, soft pink carnations, deep purple violets, and sapphire blue lilies. I stepped gently into the clearing, not wanting to mess up any part of this miniature paradise. I bent down and picked one of the lilies to look closer at it. It was almost the same as an Earth-lily, but it's petals were rimmed with a slightly shiny, golden color and the leaves were thin and very smooth. I reached down and picked another one.

_These would make a gorgeous bouquet! _I leaned over to gather some more, when I heard a soft rumble come from behind me. I froze and straightened up, slowly turning around.

My eyes widened in surprise when I saw who it was, but I let out a small sigh of relief.

"Aslan! I mean, sir...Um, w-what are you doing here? I mean, well..." I trailed off nervously; talking to a king – who was a lion! – was not something I was particularly good at. But for some reason, I felt sure that he was someone I could trust and respect: the kind of stranger that you could listen to without wondering why.

He smiled understandingly and walked up next to me. "I am here because I wish to talk with you, Katherine."

My jaw dropped to the ground and my stomach with it. "Y-you know my name?" I stammered out, my eyes the size of my cat's (Whose are, coincidentally, HUGE).

He just looked at me, his golden eyes twinkling. "Yes, child, I know your true name. This knowledge was given to me by my Father, the Emperor-Over-the-Sea. But that is not why I am here to speak with you."

I picked my jaw up from its seat on the ground (It had gotten quite comfortable, so I had to pull pretty hard), and adjusted my eyes to their normal size. Then I asked, "So, why _do_ you want to speak with me?" I wasn't quite sure if that was too frank or not, but I couldn't think of any other way to put it.

Aslan replied calmly, "Because you are unsure as to why you are here."

I was once again surprised. _How does he know this stuff? Can he read my mind? Or am I just that transparent..._ I mentally blew that thought away and started to explain. "Yeah, that's for sure." I half-laughed. "I just don't understand... Did I come here for a reason? Am I supposed to do something, help someone? Or did I just come here by chance? Just a mistake, a fluke... I dunno." I heaved a sigh and looked toward Aslan. He was calmly listening, and I felt like he really did understand. I just hoped he could answer my questions.

"If you wish to know, dear one, all you have to do is ask." He said, looking me in the eye. Suddenly, I felt so completely _seen_, like he knew every single thing, good AND bad, about me. The feeling was a little scary, but also... it felt good. Like he knew me, REALLY knew me! Like he was one of my best friends, even though I'd only known him for half a day. I smiled slightly, my heart lighter than before.

"Well... why am I here?" I asked, twisting the ring that always sat around my middle finger.

"You are here for a single reason: Because I have called you here." He told me calmly, and my mouth had once again hit the floor with a bang. But even though I had one answer, it brought on a whole lot of other questions.

"You brought me here? Why?" I asked him, totally confused to why he would bring a clumsy, crazy, annoying, Narnia-freak to... Narnia. I mean, Mr. Beaver HAD mentioned the possibility, as had Crevan, but I wasn't absolutely convinced that they had been right. Now it looked like they were!

He looked up at the clear blue sky for a moment, and then back at me. "Because if you were not here, things might have been very different."

_That was a cryptic response if I ever heard one._ I frowned at my own befuddlement, and determined to find out what he meant. "How would things have been different? Would the Pevensies have gotten here faster? Would the beavers have more food left in their lodge? Would..." A sick feeling filled the pit of my stomach as a thought came to me. "Would Edmund have stayed with his family?"

Aslan's golden eyes stared into mine. "_That _is not for you to know yet." He told me firmly. "But that is not the only reason I brought you here. There are things you will learn in Narnia that you will not learn in your world. Things that cannot be learned in books or schools, but things that must be learned through the heart."

I sighed through my nose, letting his words wash over me. I had one more question. "But why did you bring me here if you have the Pevensies? They're the ones going to rule Narnia; they're the ones who are going to defeat the White Witch! Why do you need me?"

_Whoops, I guess that was two. Anyways..._

"We all have different roles to play, dear one. If one person decided not to be content and do the job that they were given, then this world would fall out of balance. It is best to trust the judgment of the One who gave you that role, and fulfill it the best you can." Aslan explained to me, and I realized that maybe I had not really thought about actually having my own part to play in Narnia instead of just being along for the ride. _I suppose that's something that needs to change, isn't it?_

I thought hard for a moment. Was I going to shirk my role and be a coward? Or was I going to do my part to help Narnia win its freedom – however small my part may be?

_EASY!_

I would do my part to help Narnia, because even though that part might be small and seemingly insignificant, it was the part I had been given and I would do my best to fulfill it!

I turned to Aslan, "Thank you for talking with me. I feel a lot better about things now." He smiled and our eyes met again.

"I will _always _be here for you, Katherine." He whispered to me. And in the deepest part of my heart, I knew he was right.

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**A/N: OH MY GOODNESS! I finally got another chapter done! *screams* This chapter was originally going to be a TON longer, bordering on 4,000 words, but I didn't update the document in a while so the chapter got deleted *frowns at Document Thingy*. But anyways, I was rewriting it when I decided to stop right here and write the next half in a different chapter... I'm not sure if that was a wise decision or not, but I figure you guys deserve another chapter, so here you go! :D**

**On another note, I just realized that this is the first chapter I've finished without a cliffhanger-ish scene... I'm not sure if that's good or bad... You tell me!**

**Also, I'm just curious, but did anyone get the "Princess Bride" reference? I love that movie. XD**

**And YES, my real name is Katherine, but the characters in my story will continue to know me as Eden, Ed, or Eddie, so you can keep calling me those as well! :D**

**Anyways, thank you all so much for being such wonderful reviewers! I hope you will continue to review for me, because without you all, this story would never be finished. :) You all are my greatest motivation! **

**I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can! God bless!**

**'Ed' eden54**


	12. And a NotSoQuiet Narnian Morning

**A/N: I. AM. ALIVE!**

**And the crowd boos.**

**Well, I don't blame you. :P I would boo too if I were you (Nice rhyming skills, right? :P ). But as it is, I just wrote this nice, shiny, new chapter for you, so maybe you won't be tooooooo mad at me? :D Pretty please with a pineapple on top? **

**Lol, well here are my replies to your reviews. And please forgive me if I forgot anyone. It's been a while since I've done this and I can't remember which ones I replied to and which I didn't. ;)**

**King of Kings' Daughter: Oh goodie! You liked the chapter! Lol, sorry if it's becoming a little bit Mary-Sue-ish. I wasn't trying to make it seem that way. ;D Ooh, but my grammar has improved? That is a VERY good thing since that was kinda my reason in writing the story in the first place. :D Hope you like this next chapter! PS: I am DEFINITELY going to read your next chapters of your fanfiction. I have just been really busy lately with college classes and stuff, and when I AM on it is usually to write my story. ;) Sorry for not reviewing in a while. I will ASAP! Promise, mi amiga! **

**Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper: Yes, I'm alive! Isn't it wonderful? :P Thanks for your prayers, I appreciate it. ;) I so hope you have fun reading the next chapter – it took FOREVER to write!**

**KZ and the Snazzy Plotbunnies: Haha! I guess I have tomato all over me then, huh? Well, I'm glad someone understands about procrastinating. That, along with classes, doesn't help my writing skills one bit! :P Hope you enjoy the chapter! Pretty please review for me, kay? XD**

**The Heck: Thanks for your review! :D I'm so glad I made you laugh – knowing that I've made people laugh makes me very happy. Probably because I like to laugh so much. :P But anyways, I'm really glad that my story inspired you to write one of your own! Good luck with it and happy reading!**

**Sarah Jackson-The Other: Heehee! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Please let me know what you thought about this next one! ;)**

**pselpevensie: I'm so glad you like the story! :D Nope, I haven't really planned on anything happening between Eden and Peter. Alot of fanfictions do OC pairings with the main characters and they end up turning into Mary-Sues. :P I'd really like to avoid that happening. Peter and Eden are just going to have a brother/sister relationship at the most. ;) And yes! I'm actually looking forward, and yet dreading at the same time, the meeting of Reformed!Edmund and Eden. Anyways, I hope you like this next chapter! God bless!**

**QueenSu: Aww, thank you so much! :D You are so sweet! I'm very glad you liked the last chapter, and got the PB reference. ;) You are such a great reviewer: thank you again for being so faithful! :D I hope you like the next chapter!**

**Aim5: Glad you liked it! Happy reading the next one!**

**Bookits: Wow! Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you think my story is cool – and I'm definitely planning on writing more! :D Although, just to warn you, it might take a while. But I hope you enjoy this next chapter! ;)**

**keelyequinelover: Thanks so much! I hope you like this next chapter as much as you liked the rest of the story. ;) And I love equines too. Aren't they awesome? :D**

**EDIT: Whoa, I totally forgot! There was a plot hole discovered by Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper that I never explained... She mentioned that in the first chapter I had mentioned Eden wearing a shirt with Lucy and Tumnus on the front, and that was true. She also brought to my notice the fact that the Pevensies would have totally noticed that when they saw me! I mean, if you saw your or your sibling's face on some stranger's shirt, you would freak out, right? So anyways, I don't really have a way to explain away that plot hole, except by... MAGIC! :P Just kidding lol, I actually went back and changed it so it would make more sense. Thanks QLKtH! :D**

**Weeeell, everyone, that's all for this extremely long author's note. :D I hope you guys have an awesome Thanksgiving! **

* * *

I walked back towards camp alone, Aslan having parted with me at the flowery spot where we had talked. I felt so much more sure of myself after talking with Aslan that I nearly skipped all the way back to camp. Except for the fact that I wouldn't be caught dead skipping while I was in the presence of so many amazing creatures. _Though I still have yet to figure out how a dead person could skip._

So I walked along, still holding the large bouquet of Narnian lilies that I had gathered, and held them up to my nose, inhaling their soft scent.

_They smell so beautiful, yet almost... sad._ I looked at the lilies and for some reason my eyes teared up. I shook my head. _I'm being ridiculous. Can a smell even be described as sad? As one of my best friends would say, "Only by someone like you."_

After leaving my bouquet of flowers in the tent, I approached the center of the camp, and my stomach started rumbling noisily. _Och, Captain, I have a rumbly in my tumbly! This could get problematic. Where am I supposed to find food in an army camp filled with sweaty fauns and centaurs?_

I glanced around, having no idea where to go for food. _It's not as if they have an Olive Garden around the corner... Although that _would _be pretty awesome..._

Seeing nothing edible in the nearest vicinity, I resigned myself to my fate: I had to find Mrs. Beaver.

_But where did she go last night? Ugh... This is when photographic memory would come in handy. I mean, not necessarily like Jonas-Quinn-super-memory or anything, but just your basic see-something-important-and-remember-it-later-memory. Hmm... Come to think of it, photographic memory would be cool for alot of situations... YIKES! Except for that one time when my brother and best friend were looking at each other with eyes like a couple of hummingbirds drunk on nectar spiked with love poiso- er, potion... Ehgadz, there is no way would I ever want to see that image again. _

Even with the _wonderful_ remembrance of that _sweet_ story, I still had NO idea where to find Mrs. Beaver.

"Eden?" I heard a British voice call from behind me. I whipped around and saw Lucy running towards me, clad in a slate blue Narnian dress that I remembered seeing in the trunk this morning. _Er, it's STILL this morning._

"Lucy!" I called, relief flooding into my stomach. _Hmm... I'm still hungry. _Lucy stopped right in front of me with a small smile on her face.

"We've been wondering where you got off to." She told me, stopping for a moment and studying me. "You look different." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"In what way?" I asked her, hoping she meant 'better' and not 'worse'. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"I'm not sure. You just look... more confident and... very Narnian!" She smiled brightly, and I shrugged, still not sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Well, anyway, it's time for breakfast!" She said, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the middle of camp.

"Breakfast!" I sighed happily, smiling back at Lucy. She nodded, seeming to be in a decent mood herself.

"They have toast and butter and jam, and even some eggs!" Her smile grew wide again, and I felt my mouth water. _Ahh... The first decent food in... erm, a day. _I mentally blushed, realizing how spoiled I was. I was prepared to give myself a firm lecture about the matter, but we soon arrived at the breakfast table and the smells of toast with butter, jam, and eggs clouded my mind and weakened my resolve. Scratch that, it DESTROYED my resolve!

I plopped down across from Susan, who was sitting next to Peter, who was sitting next to Lucy. I contemplated saying a cheery "Good morning all!", but forgot it once I saw the food that was heaped on my plate, instead shouting out a hasty "THANK YOU LORD, AMEN!" and biting into my toast.

_Perhaps I could have been a _little _more reverent._ I thought, my cheeks turning slightly pink. _Sorry, Lord Jesus. And thank you for this food. _I told my King, truly meaning it this time.

After wolfing down the remains of my toast, I found an odd silence hit my ears (I find that crunching toast is most effective in drowning out noise). I slowly looked up.

The three Pevensies sat staring at me, Peter and Susan with raised eyebrows, and Lucy stifling a giggle.

"Um, well, you see..." I stumbled over my words, trying to answer an unasked question as my cheeks burst out into a full on blush. "I was hungry!" I finished lamely, clutching a crust of toast in my hands and accidentally breaking it into pieces. "Whoops..." I muttered, watching it fall onto my plate. I looked up, suddenly hearing a giggle from the direction of Lucy.

She had her hand over her mouth and as I met her eyes, she started to laugh. I feigned a hurt expression, but she just laughed all the more.

"Do you always eat so... quickly?" Peter asked me, an amused light in his eyes.

"Not _always._" I answered, crossing my arms in a fake pout. Lucy giggled again, and Peter and Susan tried to hold back smiles (Unsuccessfully, I might add).

I shook my head, smiling to myself as I finished my breakfast. The Pevensies followed suit, but they all still seemed to have a case of the mental giggles.

"So what's going to be happening today?" I asked them, licking my fingers clean of jam and butter. _I guess this works... After all, fingers don't fit in a dishwasher. Not that they'd have one in Narnia anyway._

Peter shrugged, "I'm not sure. I was hoping to talk to Aslan later." He didn't say what about, but we all knew he wanted to find out about Edmund.

"I guess we should just try and rest up some." Susan said softly, "We've been traveling for days. And who knows what might happen next?"

I sighed, feeling terrible for the Pevensies. _If only I could take their minds off Edmund for a bit. But maybe that would be unfair – they do have a right to worry after all._

"We could explore!" Lucy exclaimed, ever the cheerful one. I smiled and nodded.

"Sounds great to me! There's this-" I stopped, deciding at the last moment to keep the beautiful flower patch to myself – it was special to me now and I didn't want to share it quite yet, as selfish as that may have been. "Well, there's this stream in the forest, and it's reeaally cold! Of course you guys probably already saw it and washed up and everything, but I still need to wash my other clothes, so I'm gonna go down there soon."

Susan looked confused, starting to reply, "Actually, we haven't washed up yet. We couldn't find the faun, Kirentus-"

"Kiremnus." I interjected, and she looked at me confused. "The faun's name. It's not 'Kirentus', it's Kiremnus. Or if you really want to make him wonder, call him Westley."

Her eyebrows furrowed even more and I almost felt bad for interrupting. Almost.

"Well, anyway," Susan began again, glancing at Peter, "We couldn't find _Kiremnus _so we decided to go ahead and get dressed. But if there's a stream nearby, we really should wash up."

"It would feel quite nice to get all this dirt off." Peter added, brushing the aforesaid annoyance off his knees after standing up. "But you girls can go first – I'm going to find Aslan." He put his hands on his sisters' shoulders and smiled, "I'll see you later, alright?"

Susan nodded quietly and Lucy gave him a quick hug. "Take care of each other." He told them, turning to me and slightly smiling. "And make sure Eden doesn't get herself into too much trouble."

"Aww, man!" I fake pouted, scrunching my nose and folding my arms. Peter shook his head, smiling ruefully, "Well, I'll see all of you later!"

After Peter left, the rest if us stood up as well, everyone having finished breakfast. "Alrighty, girls!" I exclaimed, grabbing an extra egg, tossing it in the air, and catching it again. "Off to the river we go!"

"River?" Lucy asked, her eyes growing wide. "I thought it was a stream!" I shrugged and looked back at her.

"River, stream – same thing!" I laughed, and skipped along down the path, forgetting my earlier promise not to do so. Susan and Lucy followed behind me and we reached the stream in record time.

After rolling up their sleeves and taking of their shoes, Susan and Lucy waded into the chilly water and I stood on the bank, promising to keep watch. _Although I'm not really sure why, since there isn't really anything to keep watch for._

I looked around carefully, trying to find something worthwhile to spend my time doing while I was on guard duty. My eyes came to rest on a tall, leafy tree that stood close to the bank. Suddenly a thought popped into my head: "CLIMB THE TREE!". Of course I tried as hard as I could to push it away: "NO! I don't wanna climb the tree! I don't need to know how to climb stinkin' trees!"

"Why not? It's a good and decent skill to learn!" My mind, always the logical one.

"I don't wanna learn!"

"What if you get into another wolf situation? Huh? What then?"

"I'll run."

"Suuuuurrreee. You'll run and get killed by wolves and then where will we be?"

"WE? When did this become WE?"

"When we started saying we?"

"For cryin' out loud..."

I rolled my eyes at my lack of sanity and glanced at Susan and Lucy to see if they heard my little conversation.

Fortunately, they hadn't. They were still splashing around and whispering to each other. _Hmm... I wonder what they're whispering about. And now they're giggling and looking at me strangely! I did wash the mud off my face this morning, right?_

Ridding my mind of any other distracting thoughts, I stepped up to the tree and grasped a lower branch, preparing to pull myself up. "One, two, three-"

I hauled myself up, cringing as I felt my fingers slip. "Nooo, no! I WILL hold on. I WILL!" I clawed at the branch, trying to pull myself up enough to sit. I finally made it, looking down at the five foot drop below. _Ooh, scary_, I told myself sarcastically, trying to taunt my way out of my fear of heights. I kept looking down, leaning over to grab the next branch when I found out an unfortunate truth: there was no next branch.

Before I knew it, I had fallen five feet straight down – right onto my tailbone.

"EEEEIIIAAHHH!" I yelled, arching my back at the pain and scrunching my eyes closed. "That did NOT go as planned!" I cringed and rolled onto my side, finding it much more comfortable.

"Eden!" I heard Lucy shout from the stream. She soon appeared beside me, and Susan right after her. "Are you alright?"

I took inventory of my injuries, and though they were "mighty painful", none of them were life threatening. _This time. _"Yeah, I think so." I told Lucy, sitting up slowly.

"Maybe you should find something more... safe to do. " Susan suggested to me, looking slightly worried for my physical _and_ mental health.

"Well, I was thinking... um, that I should learn to climb trees so I can get away next time we get chased by rabid wolves?" I sighed, getting to my feet and trying to stand straight without cringing.

Susan started to shake her head, when something strange startled me. I glanced around quickly, hoping that I hadn't heard what I thought I'd heard.

"Susan..." I began warily, and she looked confused.

"What is it?"

Another guttural noise came from the bushes a few feet away. _That can't be good._ Lucy saw my expression, and crept closer to Susan and me.

"Eden?"

I stepped closer to the bushes, picking up a large stick on the way. The two girls stood behind me as I reached forward with the stick and poked into the bushes –

I hit the ground hard, a sudden pressure on my chest and legs pinning me to the dirt. Waves of pain pulsed through my skull as the sky and trees melted around me into a springtime collage that shone blurrily with blue, green, and yellow. _Ooh, pretty colors... Must be Easter..._

The remnants of a scream brought me back into focus as my shocked mind started to process things again. _Lucy?_ I tried to call for her, but found I couldn't speak as the pressure on my chest moved to my throat. I coughed as I tried in vain to inhale.

"You can't run now, can you?"

A familiar gravelly voice spoke over me. Way too close for comfort, I might add. I mentally groaned – this was so much worse than I had imagined. _Elmo?_

I opened my eyes and was met with the sight of Elmo's pearly whites. I grinned stupidly, suddenly feeling alarmingly giddy. _Ooh! What whitener does he use? I should really ask..._

"Good thing too, 'cause we're tired and we'd prefer to kill you quickly. But before I do, there is one thing you _will _tell me: Where is the boy?"

I snickered, not even realizing that the pressure had left my throat. "Ooh, prefer is such a gentlemanly word. Matches your nice teeth. What whitener do you use?" I asked, feeling suddenly sad as the pearly whites disappeared into a furry frown.

He snarled in my face. I coughed, noting the lack of fresh, minty breath that usually came as a result of teeth whitening strips.

"My dear fellow," I began, choking on the stale breath coming out of his mouth, "My high regard for you has fallen. Do you even BRUSH your teeth?"

My eyes watered as the wolf's sharp claws drove deep into my collarbone. "Okay, I get it! Stop!" I gasped, the pain jolting me out of my giddy state. Tears leaked from my eyes as Elmo smirked, retracting his claws from my skin.

"I'll tell you." I said, my lungs heaving as I started to hyperventilate and tried desperately to think of anything. _It wasn't supposed to be this way. I'm supposed to protect the Pevensies, not give them away! But I don't want to die... I really, really don't wanna die. _

"Hurry up, human. You don't have forever." The wolf snapped, and I faintly heard the cause of his worry: Susan's horn calling for help nearby. A flicker of hope shot through me and a memory came to mind – Crevan sneakily luring the wolves in the wrong direction. But would the same trick work twice? Elmo glared down at me impatiently.

"Peter's... in the woods. That way." I pointed directly away from camp, choosing the only option I had. _Please, God, let this work..._

An angry snarl set off alarms in my head (the ones that weren't already blaring wildly), and the wolf's gaze darkened as he pushed down on my windpipe, cutting off the airflow. I panicked, grabbed at his leg with my hands and... made no difference whatsoever.

"Don't lie to me, girl." Elmo growled angrily. _I guess it really is true: the same trick never works twice. Unless you're playing it on your five year old sister who is the very definition of gullible._

"I," cough "am," choke "not lyin'!" I managed to get it out, smirking to myself at the irony of the statement. Unfortunately, the only thing I got for my effort was more pressure applied directly to my already half-crushed neck.

"Then I guess you're not needed anymore." Elmo told me, the wicked grin on his normally dead-pan face showing the pleasure he was taking in depriving me of air. My eyes grew wide as I struggled to breath.

"Noo-" His paw pressed down hard, too hard, and I begged my brain to concentrate.

_Lord, please help me. It can't end like this. I don't want to die at the hands of Elmo! ELMO! I mean, come on! I'm gonna die because a furry, red puppet choked me to death. What a way to go... No, no, my mind is wandering. God, please keep me focused until help arrives. Keep Susan and Lucy safe... and Edmund... and Peter... Send someone... _

_This was NOT... how I had hoped... to end my weekend..._

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**YAHOO! I finally, FINALLY, finished this chapter! I thought it would NEVER get finished! Heh... You guys probably thought the same, right? But I AM going to finish this story. There is nothing as frustrating as an unfinished fanfiction, and I can personally attest to that. The only thing more frustrating is a fanfiction that gets deleted by your computer while you are typing it... :( But other than that... **

**Anyways, the next chapter is in the works, and I will hopefully get it up soon! :D I love you all! Thank you very much for being so patient with me. I so appreciate all of your kind and wonderful reviews: you guys are the highlight of my day. :D**

**God bless and happy reading!**

**Eddie**


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